A Tunisian court on Tuesday sentenced the country’s wealthiest businessman, Marouan Mabrouk, son-in-law of former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, to 20 years in prison for corruption-related offenses. Former Prime Minister Youssef Chahed received a six-year sentence in the same cases, lawyers said.
Mabrouk, who has been in detention since late 2023, controls extensive business interests including a major supermarket chain, shares in BIAT Bank, the French telecom operator Orange, and a biscuit company. He was charged with money laundering, misappropriating state company funds, and receiving illegal benefits during Chahed’s government.
Chahed, who served as prime minister from 2016 to 2020 and is currently abroad, was sentenced for approving the unfreezing of Mabrouk’s European bank accounts during his administration. Six other former ministers were also handed six-year sentences on similar charges.
The verdict follows a broader anti-corruption drive initiated by President Kais Saied, who assumed control of the government and dissolved parliament in 2021. In 2022, Saied established a committee to recover funds from business owners allegedly involved in financial misconduct to help reduce Tunisia’s budget deficit. He vowed to collect no less than $5 billion, though no official amounts recovered have been publicly disclosed.
The court’s rulings underscore the continued crackdown on financial corruption and the controversial role of former elites, including Ben Ali’s relatives, in Tunisia’s post-revolution economic landscape.
