Morocco : Lebanese national, member of Hezbollah, arrested for scam, fraud and identity theft

The National Brigade of the Judicial Police arrested, on Wednesday on the basis of precise information provided by the General Directorate of Territorial Surveillance (DGST), a 57-year-old Lebanese national, member of Shiite Hezbollah, for his alleged involvement in a case of scam, fraud, identity theft and possession of identity documents and passports registered as stolen in the database of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol).

According to preliminary data from the investigation, the Lebanese citizen is suspected of scam and fraud against several victims and of non-fulfillment of an agreement, said the National Police (DGSN) in a statement, adding that the suspect pretended to be a manager of foreign companies, by presenting Portuguese and French passports of others registered as stolen, in order to deceive the victims and extract sums of money from them.

The search operation made it possible to seize, in the suspect's home, two passports (French and Portuguese), internationally registered as stolen in the Interpol database, in addition to identity documents, driving licenses bearing the names of French, Portuguese and Italian citizens, in addition to sums of money in dirhams and in foreign currency, said the DGSN.

The individual was remanded in police custody for the investigation conducted by the BNPJ under the supervision of the competent public prosecutor's office, in order to shed light on the ins and outs of this case, the statement said, noting that it is coordinating with Interpol as well as with the central offices in the countries concerned to determine the circumstances of the declaration of the theft of the seized passports.