A new real estate scandal shakes up the community of Moroccans living abroad. Several Moroccan migrants around the world have launched an appeal of distress from the national authorities to claim the immediate opening of an investigation into major irregularities within the real estate cooperative “Tounza al Khair”, established in the city of Midelt.
Initially presented as a credible initiative under the supposed aegis of the water and forest administration, the cooperative had attracted many compatriots in search of secure investments in their country of origin. Building on this alleged institutional surety, the structure had succeeded in collecting, since 2012, important financial contributions to its members. However, more than a decade later, hope has given way to bitterness.
The members of the cooperative today denounce the total absence of transparency in project management: no general meeting convened, no financial report made public, and decisions taken in the most total opacity. Worse still, the personal investigations carried out by certain members reveal the acquisition of sterile land in rural areas, far from the promised urban standards, for unjustified staggering amounts.
According to testimonies from the victims, the land acquired by the cooperative is burned on heavy tax debts accumulated over the years, a direct consequence of hazardous management and faulty governance. The servicing work has been stopped for years, suggesting the pure and simple abandonment of the project.
Faced with the multiple solicitations of members to obtain explanations on the future of their investments, the management of the cooperative chose the flight forward, using barely veiled threats, inviting them to resort to justice if they disputed the situation.
-In their plea, the complainants invoke the high concern that King Mohammed VI has continued to express towards Moroccans in the world, in particular in matters of protection of their rights and encouragement of good governance. They thus call for an energetic intervention of the competent authorities to put an end to this drift and to translate into acts the royal orientations relating to transparency, accounting for accounts and the protection of investors.
The signatories of this call claim the immediate opening of an independent audit on the financial management of the cooperative, the scrupulous examination of the bank accounts and the personal assets of the members of the director, as well as the legal translation of any person involved in acts of embezzlement or dilapidation of the funds.
Beyond the material damage suffered by members, this case also poses a serious image problem for Morocco, at a time when the kingdom is actively working to strengthen the confidence of its diaspora and promote foreign investment.
The migrants injured, qualifying this experience as “unbearable betrayal”, insist on the urgency of exemplary action to restore confidence and protect the dignity of Moroccans in the world, essential actors in the country’s international influence.
Business to follow …
