Judicial Authorities Open the ALFAPIPE Corruption Case

In the coming days, the Algiers Sidi M’hamed Economic and Financial Penal Pole will open a major corruption case involving the national company ALFAPIPE, which produces large steel pipes for transporting gas and oil products.

More than 15 executives, including 12 from the company, will be prosecuted for allegedly wasting billions on dubious contracts and deals.

The investigating judge of the Fourth Chamber of the Economic and Financial Criminal Pole in Sidi M’hamed referred to the Registry Department a corruption case involving the ALFAPIPE company, which produces large steel pipes for transporting gas and petroleum products. It is a subsidiary of the Public Group for Metal, Iron and Steel Industries (IMETAL). It also suffered systematic destruction and devastation due to corruption and mismanagement, ravaging Alfapipe’s vast potential.

According to details obtained by Echorouk, security and judicial authorities investigated all deals and tenders concluded by the public company, “Alfapipe,” which is the result of the merger of two national companies affiliated with the Cedar Group and “Bab Gaz,” to become a national company for the production of welded pipes with branches in Annaba (eastern Algeria) and Ghardaia (south).

According to the investigations, this public institution experienced a difficult financial situation following a deliberate and planned boycott by its client, an oil company affiliated with the Ministry of Energy. The case took a dangerous turn when imprisoned businessman Ali Haddad secured the contract by using his influence with the authorities, given that he owns a newly completed pipe coating factory in the industrial zone of Bethioua, Oran (western Algeria).

The judicial expertise conducted by order of the investigating judge of the Fourth Chamber of the Economic and Financial Criminal Pole revealed that billions of dinars were squandered through the conclusion of deals and contracts in a dubious manner, by resorting to “consensus” with a well-known private company in this field. The same expertise also revealed violations and manipulations in the granting of concessions without resorting to announcing tenders.

The defendants were charged with serious offenses ranging from squandering public funds, abuse of office, and concluding contracts and agreements in violation of laws and regulations to grant undue benefits to others, among other offenses.

In this context, the investigating judge of the Fourth Chamber of the Economic and Financial Penal Pole in Sidi M’hamed ordered the temporary detention of 12 executives from the “Alfapipe” company, including two former directors of the company and the former branch director of the “Alfapipe” unit in Annaba, along with the former head of the procurement committee and the former director of finance. Others were placed under judicial supervision, including a former acting director of the company, for the facts of concluding and awarding public contracts through illegal means.