Khalifa Bank Affair: “Supreme Court Orders Re-Trial Before Blida Criminal Court”
Echorouk has learnt from judicial sources that 78 defendants will face a new trial before the criminal court of Blida after numerous appeals introduced by the defence lawyers and the prosecution to the Supreme Court in the notorious Khalifa financial scandal were endorsed by Chief Magistrates.
- The re-trial of the 78 people linked to Algeria’s biggest financial scandal is expected to be held soon without the main accused Abdelmoumene Khalifa, who is in custody in Britain, and six other defendants who are still on the run.
- Reliable sources also told Echorouk that several Algerian current and former officials including foreign minister Mourad Medelci, finance minister Karim Djoudi, former finance minister Mohamed Terbèche, former housing minister Abdelmadjid Tebboune, former labour and solidarity minister Aboudjerra Soltani and current UGTA Secretary General Abdelmadjid Sidi Said will also be summoned to the Blida court for testimonies related to the El Khalifa financial scandal.
- According to the same sources, this re-trial is likely to open in the next few weeks in Blida after securing the go-ahead from the Supreme Court chief magistrate.
- The case started with the success story of Abdelmoumene Rafik Khalifa who was known as Algerian “golden boy,” but ended in what has been called “the Century Scandal.” In 2003, Khalifa group was dissolved, following investigation by Algerian authorities who uncovered serious violations on money transfer law. It came after two Khalifa Bank’s executives were arrested in Algiers airport trying to smuggle abroad 2 million Euros.
- This issue then immediately attracted the authorities’ attention to the shadowy activities of El Khalifa Bank which was Algeria’s largest private bank. In a matter of weeks, Khalifa Bank was suspected in criminal mismanagement and extensive money laundering. The Bank, owned by Abdelmoumene Rafik Khalifa, was closed and all the clients lost their money. This scandal, which also involved some senior Algerian figures, has not just affected the Bank but also the other firms of Khalifa group, including Khalifa Airways, Khalifa informatique and Khalifa rent a car.
- Documents presented to the court in the first trial revealed the involvement of a number of officials from different public bodies in the affair, as part of which hundreds of millions of dinars were illicitly transferred abroad by some Khalifa Banks’ executives.