A notary practicing in the northern Moroccan city of Al Hoceima has been suspended from his duties and barred from leaving the country, after judicial authorities opened an investigation into the alleged disappearance of large sums of money entrusted to him by clients, according to local sources.
The case centers on funds that residents had deposited with the notary’s office as financial guarantees and advance payments for real estate sales. According to the information available, the missing amount could exceed sixty million dirhams, though the precise scale of the losses and the whereabouts of the money remain unclear. Several of the property transactions involved were reportedly never completed, with key legal formalities, including land registration, left unfinished.
Given the seriousness of the allegations, a Moroccan court ordered the precautionary seizure of all the notary’s assets, a measure designed to protect the interests of the alleged victims while the investigation into potential criminal and civil liability continues. The court has also appointed another notary to temporarily take over the suspended officer’s practice, with instructions to inventory pending files, wind down unfinished transactions and help unblock deals that have been stuck in limbo, in an effort to limit further harm to clients.
The episode has reignited scrutiny of the oversight mechanisms governing Morocco’s notarial profession, which plays a central role in guaranteeing the legal security of real estate deals across the kingdom. As public officers, notaries routinely hold substantial client funds in guarantee accounts pending the completion of property transfers, a responsibility that requires strict supervision. In recent years, Morocco’s national chamber of notaries has pushed reforms aimed at improving the traceability of such deposits and tightening disciplinary oversight of the profession, though isolated cases of alleged misconduct continue to surface.
For now, the identity of the notary implicated in the Al Hoceima case, the exact number of affected clients and further details of the judicial proceedings have not been made public. The investigation is ongoing, and authorities are expected to provide updates as the inquiry into the scale of the alleged fraud progresses.
