Prosecuted in connection with the trial against Israel's false naturalization network, one of the defendants confessed by explaining to the Casablanca Court of Appeal that he had sold his Moroccan passport and identity card for thousands of dollars. In this weekend's edition, Arabic-language daily Al Ahdath Al Maghribia indicates that the man «handed over $7,500 to Ali M.», to obtain these false documents. Quoted by Le360, the newspaper indicates that the defendants consider this amount as «fees». «After acknowledging the facts alleged against him, namely the falsification of official documents and corruption, he admitted that he never set foot in a court, a registry office or any administration to file a citizenship application. The only administration he went to was a police station to withdraw his national ID card and passport», the paper added. On the other hand, a second suspect charged with «forming a criminal organization, bribing and falsifying official documents» in the same case was not heard, claiming he did not understand Arabic. «The court has decided to postpone the hearing time to mandate an interpreter», the newspaper says. This network was dismantled last March with the arrest of twenty people, following an investigation that established that the criminal organization was specialized in obtaining Moroccan citizenship to Israelis without Moroccan origins, to facilitate their travel arrangements, for sums ranging from $ 5,000 to $ 7,000. Ihsane Jnanate, one of the main defendants, has also told the judges she was «rendering a service» to «[her] friends» by providing them with those documents. It was also determined that the network would have had another objective : Stealing real estate of Moroccan Jews who have left the country decades ago.
