Money-laundering case over jailed Algerian tycoon Mahieddine Tahkout's funds delayed to August 31

An Algerian court has pushed back to August 31 a money-laundering case built around funds belonging to Mahieddine Tahkout, the jailed automotive tycoon once ranked among the country's richest businessmen.

The economic and financial crimes court in Sidi M'Hamed adjourned its examination of the matter, which centers on the alleged diversion of several billion dinars linked to Tahkout and the laundering of the money through property purchased abroad, according to the court proceedings.

The case grew out of an investigation by the court's third chamber into suspected money laundering and the concealment of criminal proceeds. Investigators have charged four private investors accused of taking control of funds belonging to Tahkout and members of his family.

According to the investigation, the first defendant, identified only by the initials N.S. and described as the owner of an engineering consultancy, received about 350 million dinars ($2.7 million) from Tahkout to finance a study for a major project. After Tahkout's arrest and imprisonment, the project was suspended and then abandoned, and the money was never returned.

Instead, prosecutors allege, the funds were moved to a bank account in Switzerland and then to another in Spain. Investigators say part of the money was laundered through the purchase of four luxury apartments in Spain, with some of the remaining balance placed in a further bank account.

Tahkout built his fortune assembling Hyundai vehicles and running bus fleets on state transport contracts during the presidency of Abdelaziz Bouteflika, expanding into transport, education and other sectors that benefited from import curbs and state-linked incentives. His network of companies made him one of Algeria's most powerful private businessmen before Bouteflika's fall in 2019.

Since then he has faced a string of prosecutions. He was sentenced in 2020 to 16 years in prison for corruption and improperly obtaining state advantages, and this year received an additional 10-year term over a fortune that authorities said was hidden in Swiss accounts and French real estate, along with the confiscation of his assets at home and abroad.

The latest case widens the net beyond Tahkout himself to the intermediaries accused of absorbing and disguising his money. The next hearing is set for August 31, when the court is expected to resume its examination of the charges against the four investors.