Former Water Resources Minister Arezki Berraki and others face corruption charges over Medjez B'gar dam project
via Algérie3603 min read
Former Minister of Water Resources, Arezki Berraki, along with former and current directors-general of the National Agency for Dams and Transfers ANBT, and other individuals, are on trial for corruption. The case centers on the reinforcement project for the Medjez B'gar dam in Guelma, which allegedly caused a loss of nearly 600 billion centimes to the public treasury. The investigation, conducted by the regional judicial police service of Algiers, revealed that the project, initially estimated at 130 billion centimes, was awarded to a private company for over 580 billion centimes. This significant increase was due to three controversial amendments that substantially exceeded the initial contract amount and were not properly agreed upon. These amendments changed the project from a simple reinforcement to a dam elevation, with one amendment alone exceeding 230 billion centimes and another over 75 billion. Five defendants, including former Minister Arezki Berraki, who had a previous 10-year prison sentence in another case, and two former ANBT directors-general, have been placed in provisional detention. Four others are under judicial supervision. The accused face charges including abuse of office, influence peddling, embezzlement of public funds, and granting undue advantages in public procurement. The owner of the beneficiary company is also being prosecuted for inciting officials to abuse their influence, obtaining unjustified advantages, participating in the embezzlement of p
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