Casablanca’s Court of Appeal has sentenced Abdelaziz El Badraoui, former president of Raja Athletic Club, to six years in prison.
El Badraoui was found guilty of irregularities in managing public contracts and violations of local authority regulations. However, forgery charges against him were dismissed.
In a final statement, El Badraoui denied full responsibility, saying, “The charges against me are heavy. Based on the documents in the file, I still do not know my real position in this case.” He added that his company, Ozone, is owed nearly 10 million dirhams in unpaid public contracts—debts that contributed to significant job losses and forced the company into judicial restructuring.
This verdict is part of a broader crackdown on corruption implicating several prominent figures in Morocco.
Last month, Mohamed Boudrika, another former Raja president and Moroccan MP, received a five-year prison sentence for fraud, forgery, and issuing bad cheques, according to AfricaSoccer.com. Boudrika was arrested in Germany in July 2024 and extradited to Morocco earlier this year. His tenure at Raja was clouded by controversies, including the illegal resale of World Cup tickets during Morocco’s 2022 tournament.
In a related case, the Financial Crimes Chamber of Casablanca’s Court of Appeal delivered a combined 17-year prison sentence on July 29 in the “Bouznika network” scandal, which exposed large-scale embezzlement of public funds.
Among those convicted was Mohamed Karimine, president of Bouznika’s communal council and member of the Istiqlal Party. Karimine received seven years for misappropriation of public funds and abuse of office, though forgery charges against him were dropped.
An ex-communal engineer known as “the Tangerois” was also sentenced to four years for his involvement.
Karimine defended his conduct, noting that the Regional Court of Accounts’ findings had been addressed, but some recommendations required more time due to administrative and legal hurdles. He also asserted that the General Inspection of Territorial Administration had not questioned any communal officials.
