Former Basketball Federation President Sentenced to Two Years for Embezzlement

The Financial Crimes Court in Rabat has sentenced Mustapha Aurach, the former president of the Royal Moroccan Basketball Federation, to two years in prison after he was found guilty of embezzling and squandering public funds.

According to Al Sabah newspaper, the Financial Crimes Court sentenced Aurach to two years of effective imprisonment for embezzlement and squandering public funds, along with a fine of 20,000 Moroccan Dirhams (MAD). Ahmed Jarraf, the federation's former treasurer, received a one-year suspended prison sentence and a fine of 5,000 MAD. The court also ordered Aurach and Jarraf to jointly pay 600 million centimes (MAD 6 million) as civil compensation, in addition to court costs. Mustapha Khair, another defendant, was acquitted of all charges and received no prison sentence or fine.

The case originated from a complaint filed in 2016 by three former members of the Royal Moroccan Basketball Federation with the Public Prosecutor at the Financial Crimes Court. They accused Aurach, Jarraf, and Khair of squandering and embezzling public funds, estimated at over four billion centimes (MAD 40 million). This prompted the Public Prosecution to open an investigation and refer the case to the National Judicial Police Brigade.

Following years of investigation into financial documents and data, the investigating judge ordered a judicial and financial audit. The audit revealed serious financial irregularities exceeding four billion centimes (MAD 40 million), primarily stemming from annual grants provided by the Ministry of Youth and Sports to the federation, in addition to membership fees.