The Casablanca Court of Appeals upheld the initial ruling of five years in prison against Mohamed Boudrika, the former president of the Raja Club Athletic and a former member of parliament for the National Rally of Independents party, on Wednesday, November 26. The court also imposed a fine exceeding 600,000 dirhams.
Boudrika had been convicted by the criminal court in Ain Sebaa on Tuesday, July 1, for his involvement in financial cases including issuing bounced checks and embezzlement, along with charges of fraud and forgery.
The ruling included a ban on the accused from issuing checks for a year, in addition to obligating him to pay the imposed fine.
Throughout the trial, Boudrika maintained his innocence, denying the allegations against him and claiming that the documents related to the forgery and fraud charges “require technical expertise” to verify their authenticity. He argued that the conviction was based on “statements without conclusive evidence.”
With the appellate ruling, Boudrika’s case has entered a new phase of litigation, attracting significant attention from the sports and political public due to his former prominence in the Raja Club Athletic and within the legislative institution.
