In the high-profile trial over the alleged Libyan financing of Nicolas Sarkozy's 2007 presidential campaign, the Paris criminal court has sentenced twelve defendants, including Saudi businessmen, one of whose groups is actively investing in Morocco through a local subsidiary. This week, the verdict was announced: the former French president was handed a five-year prison sentence for criminal conspiracy. Among those convicted is Alexandre Djouhri, a French-Algerian businessman, who received a six-year prison sentence with a warrant for committal, a €3 million fine, and a 15-year ban on managing a company. Found guilty of corruption, influence peddling, money laundering, and criminal conspiracy, he allegedly worked with banker Wahib Nacer and two Saudi businessmen, cousins Ahmed Salem Bugshan and Ali Khalid Bugshan. In the case of the Bugshan cousins, the court acquitted Ahmed Salem Bugshan, but found Ali Khalid Bugshan and Wahib Nacer guilty of money laundering or complicity. Nacer was sentenced to four years in prison with a warrant for committal and a €2 million fine, while Ali Khalid Bugshan was sentenced to three years in prison and a €4 million fine. The financial prosecutor had initially sought four years in prison and a €1 million fine for Wahib Nacer, three years with one suspended and a €4 million fine for Ali Khalid Bugshan, and two years with one suspended and a €4 million fine for his cousin. Meanwhile in Morocco, the Saudi Bugshan Group remains involved in a major hotel project in Casablanca through its subsidiary Bugshan Morocco Holding, which also invests in the automotive sector. Located on the Ain Diab corniche near the Rio residence, the nearly 300 million dirham project aims to build a four-star hotel with 127 rooms and suites, scheduled to open by the end of 2026.
