The economic and financial penal division of the court of Sidi M’hamed (Algiers) examined this Thursday, December 22, the case of the former Minister of Finance and Governor of the Bank of Algeria, Mohamed Lokal, and the French consulting firm, Deloitte.
Indeed, the principal concerned received heavy sentences, following his involvement in several corruption cases. In this wake, we recall that the trial of the former manager was opened on December 17. However, at the request of the defense, the indictment took place today.
It should be noted that Loukal is accused of having concluded three contracts with the audit and consulting firm Deloitte, headed by the Moroccan FB at the material time. Knowing that during this period Mohamed Loukal was the head of the External Bank of Algeria. As a result, several charges have been attributed to the former BA Governor, including abuse of power, dissipation of public money, and granting undue privileges to others.
This Thursday, December 22, 2022, the public prosecutor at the economic and financial penal pole of the Sidi M’hamed court (Algiers) requested against the former Minister of Finance, Mohamed Loukal, a sentence of 10 years in prison with a fine of 1 million dinars (100 million centimes).
The representative of the public prosecutor’s office also requested the seizure of all the movable and immovable property of the accused, as well as the confiscation of his assets seized by the investigating judge and of an apartment in France.
A new case is added to the file of Mohamed Lokal
You are not unaware that, for several years, the Algerian government has been carrying out a large operation. This is to fight corruption and condemn all officials involved in such cases. To this end, several governors and former ministers have been put behind bars.
Recall that Mohamed Loukal has taken part in several corruption cases, beyond the Deloitte affair. We can cite in particular the case of the Kouninef brothers, in which he received an 8-year prison sentence. Moreover, as part of the fight against any form of dissipation of public money and the restitution of public funds, Loukal was sentenced to 6 years in prison in a third case.