Ibrahim Hadjas drags with him 480 accused in the “Union Bank” scandal

The tribunal of Bir Mourad Rais district in upper Algiers has decided to put off the “Union Bank” affair and refused to release from detention the defendant, Ibrahim Hadjas, as sources close to the file reported that investigations are still underway to unravel all the intricacies of this affair also involving scores of senior executives in several banks and directorates who are suspected of having granted financial facilities to the former general manager of the bank for the benefit of Union Bank’s fisheries branch.

This was carried out after the import by the latter defendant of a large quantity of fishing gear and ferrous wastes under the cover of money laundering.

This legal ruling came in the wake of the recent extradition to Algeria of the main defendant, the former “Union Bank” General Manager, Ibrahim Hadjas who was sentenced in absentia in a 2008 trial to 5 years in prison and to a fine of 200 thousand dinars.

The court then ordered his arrest on charges of forgery and use of forged documents, malpractice and tax evasion in addition to the illegal transfer of hefty amounts of hard currency abroad.

The judicial investigations, which lasted about 18 months, also revealed that over 480 people who had close financial links with “Union Bank” are also suspected of malpractice and illegal dealings by notably benefiting from interest – free loans amounting to over 100 million dinars without signing any legal documents warranting such huge bank loans and other fringe benefits.