The Algerian Judicial Council has upheld severe prison sentences against prominent businessman Reda Kouninef, his brother-in-law, and the latter's son, confirming their convictions in a high-profile corruption case involving illegal land acquisition and money laundering. The ruling by the President of the Sixth Criminal Chamber of the Algiers Judicial Council finalized the judgments previously issued by the Sidi M'hamed Specialized Financial and Economic Pole Court.<\/p>\n
Reda Kouninef received a 10-year effective prison sentence and an 8 million DZD fine. His brother-in-law, a retired doctor identified as N.A., was sentenced to four years in prison. N.A.'s son, N.M., who remains a fugitive, was sentenced in absentia to 10 years in prison and an 8 million DZD fine, with his arrest warrant maintained. The defendants were implicated in the illegal acquisition of an 11-hectare agricultural plot in Zeralda and subsequent money laundering of illicit proceeds from corruption.<\/p>\n
The appellate court's decision came after deliberations on the case, during which the Public Prosecutor had requested a tightening of penalties for all defendants and the confiscation of all their movable and immovable assets. The defendants had appeared before the council two weeks prior to appeal the initial verdict.<\/p>\n
Judicial investigations revealed manipulation of a state-owned agricultural farm, designated for rare tropical shrubs. This land, which had been confiscated, was illicitly managed through a concession contract with a Tunisian businessman. Proceeds from its harvests were then allegedly laundered and concealed, allowing the Kouninef brothers and other defendants to dispose of assets that were ultimately seized and confiscated by final court order.<\/p>\n
The trial proceedings unveiled intricate details, despite Reda Kouninef and his brother-in-law N.A.'s consistent denial of the charges. The case originated from a threat complaint filed on June 13, 2024, by A. Djilali, a farmer and caretaker of the Zeralda farm, who claimed N.A. had threatened to prevent him from accessing or exploiting the property.<\/p>\n
Following the complaint, the public prosecutor at the Ch\u00e9raga Court transferred the file to the Specialized Criminal Pole in Sidi M'hamed, which ordered an investigation into the legal nature of the agricultural plot. Djilali subsequently revealed that the farm was owned by the Kouninef family. Further inquiries confirmed the land was state property, confiscated, and illegally exploited through a concession to a Tunisian businessman, Benabdallah Belhassen, whose proceeds were channeled into industrial ventures\u2014a 'soci\u00e9t\u00e9 en participation' (partnership) with Belhassen, funded by foreign companies.<\/p>\n
During his interrogation, Reda Kouninef maintained that the farm was not his, asserting its true owner was Benabdallah Belhassen, whom he met in 2018. Kouninef described the charges as malicious, originating from a long-time caretaker for his father, and argued that he had been incarcerated since 2019, making his involvement in recent activities impossible. He stated that Belhassen would import tropical plant seedlings, and Kouninef had purchased 200 trees for 5 million DZD. They then formed a 'soci\u00e9t\u00e9 en participation' for buying and selling seeds and livestock feed.<\/p>\n
Kouninef explained that Djilali had been appointed as manager of this partnership, given his role as the farm's caretaker. A special power of attorney was issued by Belhassen to Kouninef's brother-in-law, N.A., to protect the farm and dismiss Djilali after the latter allegedly trespassed and exploited the land, claiming management rights under the partnership's articles, especially while Belhassen was ill in Tunisia and Kouninef was in prison. Kouninef claimed Djilali later attempted to extort him while he was in prison. N.A., for his part, denied threatening Djilali, stating the farm belonged to Kouninef and he had no personal connection to it.<\/p>\n
The defense team for Reda Kouninef criticized the investigation, arguing that the public prosecution's initial actions were fundamentally flawed, stemming from a mere threat complaint that escalated to a criminal pole. Kouninef's defense presented a concession contract that Djilali had allegedly benefited from to manage the farm, reiterating that the property was state-owned. They also highlighted that Kouninef was unaware of the case's initiation in March 2025, as he was already imprisoned at Kolea since 2019.<\/p>\n
The defense further argued that the "soci\u00e9t\u00e9 en participation" formed by Kouninef and Belhassen lacked legal personality or a commercial register, and therefore, its enforceability against third parties was questionable. They contended that such a company dissolves automatically upon the absence of its manager (Belhassen) or the incarceration of a partner (Kouninef), challenging the basis of the prosecution and the money laundering allegations. The defense concluded by seeking acquittal for Kouninef, presenting documents to support their claim of malicious prosecution by Djilali, who they alleged had attempted to extort Kouninef and his brother-in-law.<\/p>\n
Related topics:<\/strong> Reda Kouninef, Algeria corruption, Zeralda farm, money laundering, judicial council, Algerian businessman<\/p>\n DZWatch provides English-language coverage of Algeria-focused developments for international readers.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Algeria’s judicial council has affirmed corruption convictions for businessman Reda Kouninef, his brother-in-law, and son. They face prison terms for…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":64258,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","iawp_total_views":2,"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economie-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=64259"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64259\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/64258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=64259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=64259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=64259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}