Ibrahim Hadjas:” They rob my money although I was the first investor who entered Algeria during terror years”

“I’m the only loser in this case. I lost my money; I did not take my money that I brought from abroad to invest in Algeria. All my money are in Union Bank Group, they took it after liquidating the bank”, those were the words of Ibrahim Hadjas, which he said during his trial on Sunday, before the Misdemeanors Court of Sidi M’hamed in Algiers, in the case of squandering funds of the Agriculture and Rural Development Bank .

Representative of the Public Prosecution sought 10 years of effective imprisonment against Ibrahim Hadjas, who is charged with the misdemeanor of squandering public funds that are approximately 400 billion centimes from the Badr Bank, which was moved on December 28, 2005, by a representative of the Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development, against the so-called “B.M” Manager of the Company ” CCB” which imports cattle feed, and against some officials and regional managers in Badr Bank.

Investigations show that officials in “Union Bank ” in Hydra agency (Algiers), and Chairman of the Administrative Council, Ibrahim Hadjas are involved in the case, as it was found from the statements of the accused that he ordered frames of the Bank to grant the customer “B.M” bank bonds and loans without guarantees, as he was sentenced in 2007 to 10 years in prison in absentia, then he entered Algeria in December and advanced in opposition to the judgment against him.

For his part , defense of the Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development, confirmed that the follow-up of Hadjas was based on the discovery of the “Union Bank’s bonds” which were awarded to the customer “M.B ” the owner of ” CCB”, that was paid to Badr Bank and returned without balance, and after investigation security services discovered several illegal operations, then the bank’s employees confirmed that they received orders from Hadjas Ibrahim, who is asked to compensate for 10 billion centimes.

Hadjas said during the questioning by the Chairperson of the trial, that he is innocent of the charges against him, adding that he was just an investor and has no powers to grant loans, asserting that “Union Bank” is a business bank. The judge asked him about the Badr Bank loan that he benefited from with his family, then he answered; «No, I did not take advantage of any loan, my sons came Algeria for training and returned back to Canada.

Same judge asked him about the customer “M.B” the owner of “CCB” company for importing products for feeding cattle, and who benefited from the transfer of funds from Union Bank to Badr Bank from the agency of Blida, and he answered; ” I’ve 11 companies and each company has its manager, but I did not hear about the case”, then he was asked about the managers and staff of Hydra Agency, which belong to Union Bank, and who stated that they had received orders from him to give the bonds to the customer “M.B” without guarantees, he said; ” Did I give instructions to rob my bank ?”