Eight sentenced in Morocco over French tycoon’s sex trafficking scandal

A court in Tangier sentenced six Moroccans, including two women, and two Frenchmen on Wednesday for their involvement in a sex abuse and trafficking case linked to French insurance magnate Jacques Bouthier, AFP reports.

The 76-year-old tycoon, one of France’s wealthiest individuals, is currently barred from leaving France due to suspicions of child rape and trafficking.

The case in Morocco emerged in June 2022 when four former employees of Bouthier’s Moroccan subsidiary, Assu 2000 (renamed Vilavi), filed charges against him.

They reported repeated sexual harassment and intimidation between 2018 and April 2022, when Bouthier managed the subsidiary. The plaintiffs alleged they were dismissed for resisting harassment and blackmail by Bouthier and other executives.

The Tangier court issued a ten-year sentence to one defendant, four-year sentences to six others, and a six-month suspended sentence to one individual, according to the plaintiffs’ lawyer Aicha Guella.

The defendants reportedly faced charges of human trafficking, sexual harassment, and failing to report attempted or committed crimes. Additionally, they were ordered to pay over $10,000 to each of the six plaintiffs.

Public declarations of this nature are rare in Morocco, where victims of sexual abuse often face social stigma.