Tahkout Commercializes 1272 Hyundai Vehicles While in Prison
Former businessmen convicted by final court rulings of imprisonment and confiscation of all their movable and real property and prohibition of their disposal, continued to bypass the law through serious criminal acts by trying to accumulate large sums of money through illegal practices, and with the complicity of administrative officers appointed by justice to fight against corruption.
In a new scandal, some people close to the imprisoned businessman, Mahieddine Tahkout, in collusion with the administrative officer who was recently imprisoned by the investigative judge of the Rouiba Court, took out 1,272 Hyundai brand vehicles from the port of Mostaganem (western Algeria), on September 28, 2021, i.e. after the final verdicts were issued against Mahieddine Tahkout, who was convicted of 14 years in prison, with the confiscation of all his property.
According to details in the possession of Echorouk, 1272 vehicles were loaded on board 318 containers of 40 feet, each contained 4 vehicles, which were brought from Korea on board a “JSP SKIRNER” ship on July 31, 2018, but the former Director of Exploitation and Trade at Mostaganem Port Corporation froze the process of liberating these vehicles, due to Tahkout’s failure to provide any guarantees to pay the port dues represented in the costs of storage, guarding and rental of lifting equipment, with a financial value estimated at 130.950.740.05 Algerian dinars.
The first official in charge of the car assembly plant in Tiaret (western Algeria), to its owner, Mahieddine Tahkout, deceived, in collusion with the administrative officer who is under temporary detention and several officials of the Mostaganem Port Corporation, to liberate these vehicles through promises to pay the port dues in 3 instalments, the first will be paid on October 31, 2021, the second on November 30, 2021, and the third on December 31, 2021, however, these instalments have not been paid so far, due to the freezing of the bank balances of Tahkout and his companies, and the law does not allow the disposal of seized and confiscated properties by the judicial authorities.
The question that remains open is what is the fate of 1272 vehicles that were taken out of Mostaganem port in mysterious circumstances and suspicious ways..? Especially since the procedures in force in all ports stipulate the obligation to pay port costs such as storage, guarding and renting lifting equipment, before the goods and containers leave the port.
Last week, the National Security Services seized properties worth DZD100 billion that the Tahkout family had hidden after a search warrant issued by the competent prosecution.
According to the General Directorate of National Security, these properties were hidden by some members of the family of former businessman Mahieddine Tahkout and some of his close associates and were not authorized by the judicial guards, nor by the judicial authorities concerned with seizing the properties, to transfer and sell them illegally.
The inspection process resulted in the seizure of 507 vehicles, including 267 luxury tourist cars, 84 trucks of various brands, jet skis and pleasure boats, luxury motorcycles, more than 800 large boxes containing auto parts and 30 containers containing 63 new bus engines, were seized in warehouses in the municipality of Reghaia, Ouled Fayet, Dar Bida and Staoueli in Algiers, and a warehouse in Bechar (southern Algeria) as well.
According to the same security authority, 24 suspects were involved in the case, including members of the family of the former businessman Mahieddine Tahkout and some close to him, who was brought before the competent prosecution on charges of concealing criminal proceeds resulting from corruption crimes, money laundering and concealment of criminal proceeds through hiding its criminal origin.
