Algiers Judicial Council: Former Minister’s Son Will Not Be Released
The indictment chamber of the Algiers Judicial Council officially decided, on Tuesday, November 19, not to release the son of a former minister whose functions were terminated in the past few hours, the businessman “Nounou Manita” and “S. Noureddine”, the general manager of the “Fondal” company, in addition to the CEO of the “Sider El Hadjar” group “B. Karim”, who is being prosecuted in a corruption case that affected the branches of the “IMETAL” company.
In detail, the indictment chamber of the Algiers Judicial Council upheld the decision of the investigating judge of the third chamber of the Economic and Financial Pole, regarding the detention of many defendants and placing others under judicial control for corruption incidents that affected the branches of the “IMETAL” group, and the ruling to put in temporary detention both the businessman “Nounou Manita” from Oran (western Algeria), the son of a minister in the amended government and “S. Nourredine”, the general manager of the “Fondal” company, along with “B. Karim”, the CEO of the “Sider El Hadjar” group and other defendants, who are being prosecuted in a heavy corruption file related to concluding suspicious deals.
The indictment chamber also decided to maintain judicial control on the Algerian Football Federation’s former president and the Aurassi Hotel’s former director. The decision to ban leaving the national territory and withdraw the passport was also upheld, placing the accused “A. Ch”, who holds the position of general manager of a car dealership for a Chinese brand, owned by the brothers “A. A” and “A. H”, who were also placed under judicial supervision, as the “Auto Leader Company”, which is located in Setif (eastern Algeria) was founded in 2020 with a capital equivalent to DZD 20 million and recently raised to DZD 140 million, obtained the activity approval as a car dealer for a Chinese brand in the first half of 2023 and began marketing cars starting from October 25, 2023, with a share equivalent to 11,000 vehicles.
The car company’s general manager “A. Ch.”, who resides in Spain, had previously held the position of director of the “Kia” factory in Batna (eastern Algeria) when it was owned by the Arbaoui brothers before it was confiscated in recent years following final court rulings against them proving their involvement in corruption cases and handing it over to the public group “Fondal”.
CEO “A. Ch” previously held positions in Morocco, and had run for the 2017 legislative elections, representing the National Democratic Rally Party as a representative of the community, but did not win a seat in parliament at the time.
As for the brothers “A.A.” and “A.H.”, they have obtained several accreditations in the field of cars, vehicles and the pharmaceutical industry during the recent period, including the dealership of a famous Chinese brand in the national market recently, the “Karry” brand, the “Kia XCeed” brand and the “Higer” brand for buses, in addition to a final accreditation for the manufacture of cars that they announced in an official statement a short time ago without specifying the location of the factory, and it was likely that it was the same as the former “Kia” factory in Batna (eastern Algeria), whose ownership was transferred after its confiscation to the public company “Fondal”, whose CEO is currently placed in temporary detention in the same case, while questions have been raised about how this dealership obtained this huge amount of accreditation in a short period.
The brothers “A.A.” and “A.H.” are known for their involvement in importing clothes and medicine, and then entered the field of importing cars. They also recently obtained approval for the activity of manufacturing medicine. The relationship between these people and the businessman called “Nounou Manita” and the son of a former minister whose term ended in the past few hours is currently being investigated.