El Badraoui and Karimine detained in Oukacha prison

The investigating judge at the Casablanca Court of Appeal ordered the incarceration of two influential personalities: Mohamed Karimine, nicknamed “the Emperor of Bouznika”, former deputy, and Abdelaziz El Badraoui, former president of the Raja Casablanca club. They were detained at the local prison of Ain Sebaâ “Oukacha”, following their arrest.

This decision came in the early hours of the morning this Friday, following the interrogations of the accused in a case of alleged embezzlement related to the cleanliness contract of the municipality of Bouznika, of which Karimine was the president before being dismissed by the Ministry of the Interior.

The Attorney General at the Casablanca Court of Appeal requested their pre-trial detention after bringing them before the investigating judge, after long hours of hearing.

Previously, the Attorney General had decided to take the investigation further by entrusting the file to the National Brigade of the Judicial Police (BNPJ) to continue the interrogation of the accused.

According to the information collected by Hespress, the two main defendants gave contradictory statements before the Attorney General, which justified their placing in police custody in order to deepen the investigation.

They were asked about their alleged involvement in embezzlement concerning the delegated management contract of the cleanliness sector, concluded with the company “Ozone”, belonging to El Badraoui, and signed with the municipality of Bouznika during Karimine’s mandate, before her impeachment by the Ministry of the Interior.

The members of the BNPJ detained them on Tuesday morning, following several interrogation sessions, some of which were missed by the accused, who provided medical certificates.

Karimine was transferred from a hospital in Rabat on Monday, on the instruction of the General Prosecutor’s Office, to be presented with El Badraoui before the judicial authorities.

The former president of the Bouznika Communal Council is the subject of many complaints and is currently under an investigation opened by the General Prosecutor’s Office at the Casablanca Court of Appeal.