Naciri & Bioui Case: Are Akab Promotion’s Checks Forged?
The alarm rings forty-five minutes late, as usual for courtroom reporters on Friday, April 18, 2025. A voice suddenly echoes: “Court.” Everyone rises. The presiding judge enters and begins questioning Saïd Naciri, one of the 25 defendants in the sprawling so-called “Escobar of the Sahara” case, which notably involves international drug trafficking.
Naciri is facing charges including alleged forgery and use of five checks, as well as influence peddling as an elected official charges he firmly denies, as previously reported in L’Economiste.
Following questions about a 1,330 m² villa located in Casablanca’s California district, the president of Courtroom No. 8 at the Casablanca Court of Appeals turns to the checkbook of Akab Promotion, a limited liability company Naciri reportedly managed until 2007. Investigators concluded that he no longer had the authority to sign checks as a company representative. At the stand, the accused insisted there was confusion with two other companies: Akap 1 (established in 2007) and Akab 2 (created in 2010).
During the April 4, 2025 interrogation of Belkassem Mir also a defendant we learned that the former WAC president used the checkbook a decade later to pay part of the purchase for this property. (See L’Economiste No. 6985, April 8, 2025). At that hearing, the court pointed out that the issuer of the five checks “no longer had the right to sign them.”
“Your honor, I assure you that I am still the authorized representative on Akab Promotion’s bank account. My name is still listed in the commercial register,” Saïd Naciri stated in his defense.
However, his business partner, Fadel Zine Abidine Alami, told investigators at the end of 2023 that Naciri had submitted his resignation as company manager in 2007 after receiving his share of the profits. He added that he had not received the checkbook “whether voluntarily or by accident, I cannot say.” “Does Fadel Zine Abidine Alami have any document proving my resignation?” Naciri asked the court. “Your honor, you have the means to verify my claims with the relevant bank. I have a document to support them,” continued the former MP from the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM – majority).
Saïd Naciri then produced supporting documentation to back his statements.
A.O. & F.F.
