The investigating judge of the office 32 of the Tunis court of first instance issued yesterday a warrant for deposit against the businessman Maher Chaâbane. The decision was taken as part of an open investigation for alleged facts of corruption involving a public official.
According to sources relayed by Diwan FM, this detention is part of a wider file which affects the public banking sector. Two senior executives from a public bank have also seen their prolonged police custody, with the agreement of the parquet of the economic and financial judicial center.
The investigation relates to the granting presumed by Maher Chaâbane of banking credits in the amount of around 240 million dinars, under conditions deemed irregular.
The investigations do not stop there. Two other people are also in the viewfinder of justice: a former minister, who has held the post of deputy director general in the bank concerned in the past, as well as another executive. Both were placed under judicial supervision and returned to the prosecution.
The charges retained in this file are particularly heavy: money laundering, abuse of power and function, collusion, undue exploitation of civil servants to obtain illicit advantages, damage caused to public administration.
Let us recall that Maher Chaâbane was already sentenced to two years in prison, in December 2023 by the 6th criminal chamber in charge of financial corruption affairs to the Tunis court of first instance for non-retriement of export revenue from abroad.
The investigation carried out within the framework of the Maher Chaâbane case, currently detained for corruption, money laundering and corruption of public officials, had led, in June 2024 to the arrest of the former mayor of La Goulette and two former directors of a public bank.
They are suspected of money laundering and the administration of the administration for having granted credits exceeding the overall sum of 240 million dinars, without guarantees, in favor of the businessman.
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