The court specializing in financial crimes at the Appeal Court in Fes, presided over by Judge Mohamed Ben Maachou, has decided to postpone the examination of the case involving a criminal network accused of seizing vehicles from the municipal impound lot in Oujda. This decision was made on the afternoon of Wednesday, October 7, 2026, and the hearing has been rescheduled for November 4, 2026, to allow for the re-summoning of the defense for the absent defendants.

A total of 19 defendants are implicated in this case, which saw the preliminary criminal court issue sentences in June amounting to over 36 years of imprisonment in total. The charges against them include embezzlement, misappropriation of public funds, forgery of vehicle registration plates, and dismantling vehicles to sell parts in flea markets. The mastermind and head of the municipal impound lot, identified as (M.A), received a sentence of five years in prison along with a fine of 50,000 dirhams. Co-defendants (Z.L) and (M.A) were sentenced to four years of imprisonment each, with fines of 40,000 and 50,000 dirhams respectively.

Further sentences included three years of imprisonment and a fine of 20,000 dirhams for (A.S), and 2.5 years with a fine of 30,000 dirhams for (M.K). Additionally, both (A.A) and (S.A) received two years in prison along with fines of 20,000 dirhams each. The court also imposed a year and a half of imprisonment with a fine of 10,000 dirhams on six defendants, while three others received one year in prison and a similar fine. Two defendants were sentenced to six months in prison, and one defendant received a sentence of four months.

The dismantling of this organized network followed field investigations conducted by the regional judicial police in Fes in coordination with the General Directorate for Territorial Surveillance. The operation led to the arrest of over 20 individuals, including four public employees from the municipal impound lot in Oujda. Additionally, extensive searches conducted at the time resulted in the seizure of 10 vehicles, 17 motorcycles, 38 dismantled vehicle carcasses, along with significant quantities of spare parts, cars, and electronics that had been unlawfully taken from within the impound lot.

As reported by nadorcity.com.