MWC News - A Site Without Borders - - Bosses jailed in Algeria bank fraud

Mar 22 2007

Bosses jailed in Algeria bank fraud

Arab World

By Agencies

More than 100 defendants faced charges of fraud, embezzlement and forgery [AFP]

An Algerian court has sentenced several former banking executives to jail after finding them guilty of corruption following the collapse of the country's largest private bank.

Rafiq Khalifa, the former head of Bank Khalifa, was jailed for life in absentia on Thursday for his part in the disappearance of nearly $1bn from clients' accounts.

Several other former Bank Khalifa executives were given sentences of up to 15 years in prison by the court in Blida, 80km south of Algiers, the capital.

A total of 104 suspects faced 30 charges involving fraud, embezzlement and forgery relating to the collapse of Bank Khalifa in 2003.

The second most severe sentence was handed down to Djamel Guellimi, the ex-deputy chief executive of the Khalifa Bank, who was given a 15-year term and fined more than $13,000.

Youcef Akli, the top official at Khalifa Bank, was given 10 years in jail and also fined the same amount.

Bank's founder in exile

Rafiq Khalifa, the bank's founder, was sentenced to life imprisonment for his part in the financial scandal. However he has living been in Britain for the last four years and is fighting attempts to extradite him.

Prosecutors said that he had embezzleent around $47.6m (3.2bn Algerian dinars) of the money that is missing from the bank's accounts.

Life sentences have also been sought for nine other suspects being tried in absentia in the case, including a former Algerian government minister and the ex-governor of the Bank of Algeria.

During the peak of the bank's success, the Khalifa group, its parent company owned an airline and employed more than 20,000 people.