International Cooperation To Extradite Farid Bedjaoui To Algeria

Nouara Bachouche / English version: Dalila Henache

The Algerian authorities are making active contacts, within the framework of the judicial agreements recently concluded with 11 countries, to receive the wanted man, Farid Bedjaoui, the right-hand arm of the former Energy Minister, Chakib Khelil, against whom international arrest warrants were issued for his involvement in several corruption cases.

In details that were revealed by Echorouk sources, after the receipt of the former General Manager of Sonatrach, Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour, the Algerian authorities launched contacts with several countries to extradite the fugitive from justice, Farid Bedjaoui, especially after concluding new judicial agreements with 11 countries, namely Switzerland, France, Spain, Italy, Luxembourg, Panama, UK, Northern Ireland, China, the United States of America and the United Arab Emirates.

Farid Bedjaoui is wanted by Algerian justice for follow up on several corruption cases, and according to information in the possession of Echorouk, the investigation file is located at the level of the Dean of the Investigative Judges of the First Chamber of the Economic and Financial Penal Pole of Sidi M’hamed Court.

The first file, carrying investigation number 20/0005, relates to the Canadian company “SNC Lavalin”. Specializing in major engineering installations, and the second with investigation number 20/0007 related to “SAIPEM”, in which the former Minister of Energy and Mines, Chakib Khelil, was implicated as the main suspect, his wife Arafat and his two sons fleeing from justice, and Mohamed Meziane, the former General Manager of Sonatrach as well, in addition to Noureddine Boutarfa, former Minister of Energy and Mines, along with more than 50 defendants in the two cases.

As for the third file in which Farid Bedjaoui is followed, it is related to the liquid-gas deals, “from which those involved in the case file benefited with an amount of money exceeding 8 million euros, equivalent to DZD 168 million, as the case was opened by the investigating judge of the ninth chamber of the Sidi M’hamed Court in Algiers before it was transferred to the Dean of the investigative judges of the National Pole Court specialized in combating the financial and economic crime at Sidi M’hamed court.

The deal took place in Switzerland with the complicity of the managers of Sonatrach’s branch in Switzerland, called “R.S.” and “B.G” on the orders of the former Minister of Energy and Mines, the fugitive Chakib Khelil, and the former general manager of Sonatrach, called “A.F”, who is under temporary detention, and “B. Boumediene”, the vice president and general manager of “upstream” activities at the level of the same oil company, along with Farid Bedjaoui, against whom an international arrest warrant was issued, a case whose merits were revealed by the Italian Milan Court in its justifications for the judicial rulings that were announced last September, in the Sonatrach Eni Saipem case, which confirmed that Farid Bedjaoui, who was Chakib Khelil’s right-hand man, had sold the secrets of Sonatrach’s tenders at a high price of 197 million euros, representing the value of bribes, in favor of Saipem.

Under investigation file No. 0003/20, Farid Bedjaoui, is followed by justice, accompanied by Chakib Khelil and the former Minister of Transport and Public Works, Amar Ghoul.

Farid Bedjaoui, against whom 4 international arrest warrants were issued, is followed on heavy charges included in the Anti-Corruption and Prevention Law 01/06, represented in misdemeanor of wasting public funds, abuse of actual and supposed influence to obtain undue benefits and granting them to others, intentionally abusing the position to performing work within the framework of the job to obtain undue benefits and granting them to others illegally taking benefits directly and indirectly from contracts, tenders, and contracts, in addition to charges of “money laundering and criminal proceeds resulting from corruption crimes, transferring property and funds resulting from criminal proceeds to disguise their illicit source and the acquisition and possession of property and funds resulting from the proceeds of crime”.