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Investigating Judge of Bab El Oued Court in Algeria issued an order to place 4 people in temporary detention, accused of forming a gang working in fraud and extortion, bearing the name “National Anti-Corruption Authority.”
Case’s merits, as explained in a statement by the Algerian Ministry of Justice, date back to January 7th. When the security services received information that people who went to Bab El Oued Hospital claimed to be members of the so-called “National Anti-Corruption Commission.”
Defendants claimed that they were “investigating the complaint of the owner of a labor company, who did not receive his financial dues,” according to the justice statement.
As a result, the Republic Prosecutor’s Office requested the court to open a preliminary investigation into these facts. Knowing that the aforementioned commission does not exist in reality.
Investigations revealed the presence of a criminal group based in a store in the state of Blida. On the basis that it is a national office for this fictitious national anti-corruption body.
This criminal group included a network of coordinators across several states, who used security vests with “anti-corruption” written on them during their movements, to blackmail and defraud citizens.
Thus, 5 suspects were brought forward in this case, to open a judicial investigation against them, and against 12 others who are on the run.
The defendants will face a set of charges, the first of which are forming a gang of evildoers, counterfeiting official seals and publications, interfering in civil functions, using a title related to a legally regulated profession, and defrauding citizens.