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Saad Lamjarred is again having problems with justice. This time the famous pop star will have to appear in two commercial courts regarding the cancellation of his infamous music concert in Paris. Right after his arrest on October the 26th, the Moroccan singer left his concert's organizer penniless. On the other hand, his circle never wanted to pay for the legal costs to the company in charge of his concert that hasn't taken place despite the losses.
On October the 27th, an order was issued by a judge at the Court of First Instance of Nanterre in summary, authorizing the company Cairo By Night, in charge of organizing the concert of the Moroccan star at the Palais des Congrès in Paris, initially planned on October 29, 2016, to seize «the expenses spent on his benefit from the authors, composers and music publishers» of Saad Lamjarred. A receivable valued at € 83,556. The order is «enforceable as attested by the judgment endorsed hereof» said a document sent exclusively to Yabiladi.
Two judges' orders
«A second order was issued by a judge of the distirct court in Paris, last November the 17th», authorizing the same company to seize a debt assessed this time at «280 000 Euros», Ilhem Bouzidi, manager of Cairo By Night told Yabiladi. «We have news from Saad Lamjarred's family, they do not want an arrangement, they do not want to pay», she added. Justice has decided that they have to pay this amount of money since «they are damages. Cairo By Night has not been working since the cancellation of the concert».
According to the same source, the singer is believed to have cashed in on «half of the money planned for the concert which was ranging between 52 000 to 60 000 Euros». «He took this money before the concert planned at the Palais des Congrès, we promised to give him the rest by the night of the concert», said the manager of Cairo By Night. The French-Moroccan told us that the cancellation insurance does not cover expenses when there is a criminal case», adding that «this time it is the artist who is accused».
«He is supposed to pay us, otherwise we will continue to attack. Now, we went to the commercial courts, if it does not work, we will change jurisdiction and we will go to the criminal law.»
Ilhem Bouzid, recalled what she lived in the past few months to put us on the same page.
«The entourage of Saad Lamjarred dropped me when it was necessary to reimburse the costs incurred by the cancellation of the concert,» said the manager of the company Cairo By Night to Yabiladi. This French-Moroccan was, however, enthusiastic about organizing the singer's concert: «He is a fellow countryman; I am Moroccan. I wanted to honor my country by organizing this concert, especially since it was the first time that a Moroccan singer managed to climbe on the stage of the Palais des Congrès. We worked body and soul with a team of Moroccans. They (Saad Lamjarred and his entourage, ed.) did not listen to us, they only did what they wanted to do. They had been warned not to go out the night before the concert, especially at night.»
200,000 euros of debt
The order issued by the judge therefore requires Saad Lamjarred to pay. «83,556 euros, that's what Sacem wants to give us. The court, in its order, allowed us to block Saad Lamjarred's Sacem account. But at the end of the day, they must repay 200,000 euros,» she said.
«They made us go crazy. They made fun of us.»
Excited and exhausted, the young woman decides to bring the case to justice. «We thought we were not going to wait anymore,» she said. The entourage of Saad Lamjarred allegedly did not care : «They told me 'If you want to make stories and talk to the media , it's you who will have problems. We do not care, we will not pay you back.»
Ilhem allegedly harassed and threatened
The repercussions of canceling the concert are not only financial. Ilhem Bouzid was subjected to harassment for several weeks by «people who wanted to be reimbursed for the tickets they had bought, while it is the FNAC ticket-selling section who deals with that». Some «hysterical» fans went so far as to blame the French-Moroccan for «conspiracy».
«I was threatened on Facebook and by phone. I was called an accomplice for three weeks. It was the worst time of my life. With too much work and stress, I had a stroke while I was five months pregnant. Fortunately, I was in the hospital when I had the attack. Financially, it was a disaster.»
Ilhem Bouzid says he was forced to pay the money upfront out of her own funds to meet the «requirements» of Saad Lamjarred, who wanted for example to «change Marriott Hotel, Porte Maillot, to be in the one located on the Avenue des Champs Elysees». The star has also asked to host «a team of 24 people, instead of the eight originally planned when signing the contract.»
«After a while, we did not have enough money for him. So, I paid with my own money. I thought everything would be fine, that I would get reimbursed out of the profits from the concert.»
Since then, this mother-of-four is no longer working. «It's been a year and a half since I can not work because my situation needs to be rearranged. As long as the claimants are not paid, my reputation in the community will be affected. Who would like to work with me? Nobody!», said Ilhem Bouzid. «He took everything away from me, I lost all my motivation because of that. I lost the experience that I had accumulated over the last ten years,» she concludes.
The entourage of Saad Lamjarred did not respond to our many requests for their version of the facts.
