The Court of First Instance of Tunis decided, Thursday, November 20, to postpone the examination of the case involving Borhane Bsaies and Mourad Zeghidi until December 11.
The two men, placed in detention, were once again refused their request for release. They face charges related to money laundering and tax offenses.
Hearing postponed and requests for release rejected
The criminal chamber examined the case of the two accused before deciding to postpone the case for three weeks. According to a judicial source, all requests for release were rejected, keeping Bsaies and Zeghidi in preventive detention. The same hearing also concerned a third defendant, heard while at liberty.
The two men are being prosecuted for money laundering, an accusation based on the alleged use of facilities linked to their functions, their professional activities and their social and relational networks. Investigators believe that these advantages would have been exploited to hide or recycle funds of illicit origin.
A series of tax offenses at the heart of the case
In addition to the accusations of money laundering, the defendants are also targeted for multiple tax breaches: reduction of more than 30% of turnover, non-payment of withholding taxes due to the Treasury, non-payment of VAT due and failure to issue invoices or fee notes in accordance with article 18 of the VAT Code. These irregularities constitute a significant part of the file transmitted to justice.
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