Rafik Khalifa

Last updated

Abdelmoumene Rafik Khalifa [1] (born 1 October 1966) is an Algerian businessman living in London. He was condemned in Algeria to a life sentence, [2] charged of criminal association, corruption, abuse of trust, and forgery. His trial was one of the largest in Algeria involving the embezzlement of more than $1 billion through a range of Khalifa-linked companies. [3] [4]

Contents

Career

Rafik is the son of Laroussi Khelifa a former minister. He started his career as a pharmacist. [5] In 1998, he founded Khalifa Bank, which managed the interests of small private shareholders and institutional shareholders related to the Algerian government. Continuing his activities in France, he quickly created an empire which employed 14,000 people. He was in the luxury cars rental business, before founding Khalifa TV in France, [5] Khalifa Airways, and buying a private hotel in Cannes —which had belonged to the eccentric billionaire known as La môme Moineau— in September 2002. [5]

Owner of three villas in Cannes, Rafik Khalifa wanted to create a ville nouvelle named "Algeria," triggering the attention of French media. He became close to the French show-business, getting to know Gérard Depardieu and Catherine Deneuve. However, in 2003, a judicial liquidation of his endebted firm was started. Khalifa then used shady methods to save his assets. An investigation revealed the disappearance of 50 million euros in the Khalifa Bank of Algiers. Khalifa was then suspected of having spent the money of personalities close to the Algerian President Bouteflika. 17 judicial investigations were opened against him, who took refuge in London in 2003. [6] The Khalifa Bank was closed on orders of Bouteflika. Khalifa like Bouteflika belong to the same unchanged political regime since 1962.

Trials

Khalifa's trial involved more than 100 defendants and 200 witnesses. In March 2007, he was condemned in Algeria, in absentia , [7] to a life sentence, charged of criminal association, corruption, abuse of trust, and forgery. [8]

A few days earlier, on 5 March 2007, the French justice had also issued a European arrest warrant against him. [9] The Court of Nanterre had opened an investigation against Khalifa in 2003, charged of fraudulous bankruptcy, abuse of social assets (abus de bien sociaux; i.e. corruption) and money-laundering. [9]

London authorized Khalifa's extradition in the end of August 2007. [9] Algeria has also issued an international arrest warrant against him. [9] Khalifa was extradited to Algeria in December 2013. [1] [10] [11] Khalifa was sentenced to a 18-year imprisonment. [12]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abdelaziz Bouteflika</span> President of Algeria from 1999 to 2019

Abdelaziz Bouteflika was an Algerian politician and diplomat who served as the seventh president of Algeria from 1999 to his resignation in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ahmed Ouyahia</span> Prime Minister of Algeria from 2017 to 2019

Ahmed Ouyahia is an Algerian politician who was Prime Minister of Algeria four times. A career diplomat, he also served as Minister of Justice, and he was one of the founders of the Democratic National Rally (RND) as well as the party's secretary-general. He is considered by Western observers to be close to the military of Algeria and a member of the "eradicator" faction in the 1990s civil war against Islamist militants. Ouyahia resigned as prime minister in March 2019 following President Bouteflika's announcement that he would not seek reelection, and Ouyahia was arrested in June 2019 for crimes related to corruption. He was later convicted and is currently serving 19 years in jail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rafic Hariri</span> Prime Minister of Lebanon (1992–1998, 2000–2004)

Rafic Bahaa El Deen al-Hariri, also known as Rafiq al-Hariri, was a Lebanese businessman and politician, who served as the Prime Minister of Lebanon from 1992 to 1998 and again from 2000 until he resigned on 20 October 2004, before his assassination in 2005.

Trial in absentia is a criminal proceeding in a court of law in which the person who is subject to it is not physically present at those proceedings. In absentia is Latin for "in (the) absence". Its meaning varies by jurisdiction and legal system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cesare Battisti (militant)</span> Italian former terrorist and author

Cesare Battisti is an Italian former member of the terrorist group Armed Proletarians for Communism (PAC), who is currently imprisoned after years on the run. PAC was a far-left militant group active in Italy in the late 1970s during the period known as the "Years of Lead". Battisti was sentenced to life imprisonment in Italy for four homicides. He fled first to France in 1981, where he received protection under the Mitterrand doctrine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khalifa Airways</span>

Khalifa Airways was a passenger and cargo airline based in Algiers, Algeria which was founded in June 1999 by Rafik Khalifa and ceased flying in 2003. The airline served internal routes within Algeria, along with international services in Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chakib Khelil</span> Algerian political figure (born 1939)

Chakib Khelil is an Algerian political figure who served in the government of Algeria as Minister of Energy and Mines from 1999 to 2010.

Rachid Ramda is an Algerian man convicted of the 1995 bombings against French public transportation systems. He has denied his involvement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Davit Kezerashvili</span> Georgian investor, entrepreneur, and statesman

Davit Kezerashvili is a Jewish-Georgian investor, entrepreneur and former Minister of Defense of Georgia under Mikheil Saakashvili's presidency from November 2006 to December 2008. Kezerashvili currently resides in the United Kingdom and is sentenced to imprisonment in Georgia for corruption. In 2023, the BBC published an investigation where it alleged Kezerashvili appeared to be associated with a network of fraudulent and unregulated investment brands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arrest and trial of Alberto Fujimori</span>

Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori was arrested, tried, and convicted for a number of crimes related to corruption and human rights abuses that occurred during his government. Fujimori was president from 1990 to 2000. His presidency ended when he fled the country in the midst of a scandal involving corruption and human rights violations.

Aníbal António "Anibalzinho" dos Santos Júnior is a Portuguese criminal convicted of masterminding the November 22, 2000, murder of Carlos Cardoso, a journalist investigating bank fraud in Mozambique's Central Bank (BCM). After a first trial in absentia in 2003, one failed and two successful escapes and two extraditions, dos Santos was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment in January 2006. Dos Santos maintained his innocence throughout the trial. As of April, 2008, dos Santos remained in Mozambican custody and was investigated in another attempted murder case, that of BCM lawyer Albano Silva.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mukhtar Ablyazov</span> Kazakh businessman and pro-democracy activist

Mukhtar Qabyluly Ablyazov is a Kazakh businessman and political activist who served as chairman of Bank Turan Alem, and is a co-founder and a leader of the unregistered political party Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (QDT). He was also the former head of the state-owned Kazakhstan Electricity Grid Operating Company (KEGOC) as well as briefly holding the position of Minister for Energy, Industry, and Trade under Balgimbayev's cabinet before resigning from and joining the opposition against President Nursultan Nazarbayev. In November 2001, he, along with other former Kazakh government officials founded the Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (QDT). As result, Ablyazov was imprisoned in March 2002 over accusations of financial fraud and political abuse until being pardoned by Nazarbayev in 2003. After being released from prison, he ceased his formal political activities with the opposition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beny Steinmetz</span> Israeli businessman and convicted criminal

Beny Steinmetz is an Israeli businessman and entrepreneur, with a focus in the mining, energy, real estate and diamond-mining industries. He has been convicted of corrupt and illegal business practices in multiple countries. Beny Steinmetz is the chairman and co-founder of the philanthropic trust, Agnes & Beny Steinmetz Foundation and is actively involved in the art world in Israel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abdelmalek Sellal</span> Prime Minister of Algeria from 2014 to 2017

Abdelmalek Sellal is an Algerian politician who was Prime Minister of Algeria from 3 September 2012 to 13 March 2014 when he took a leave of office to support President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's re-election campaign and again from April 2014 to May 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Babak Zanjani</span> Iranian businessman (born 1974)

Babak Zanjani is an Iranian billionaire and business magnate. He was the managing director of the UAE-based Sorinet Group, one of Iran's largest business conglomerates. In late 2013, he was arrested and accused of withholding $2.7 billion of government money owned by the Ministry of Petroleum, while facilitating Iran's oil revenue, which was hindered by the sanctions against Iran.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brussels Islamic State terror cell</span> Group who carried out Paris and Brussels terrorist attacks

The Brussels Islamic State terror cell was a group involved in large-scale terrorist attacks in Paris in November 2015 and Brussels in March 2016. The terror cell was connected to the Islamic State (IS), a jihadist terrorist organisation primarily based in Syria and Iraq.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hirak (Algeria)</span> Protests against the government

The 2019–2021 Algerian protests, also called Revolution of Smiles or Hirak Movement began on 16 February 2019, six days after Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced his candidacy for a fifth presidential term in a signed statement. These protests, without precedent since the Algerian Civil War, were peaceful and led the military to insist on Bouteflika's immediate resignation, which took place on 2 April 2019. By early May, a significant number of power-brokers close to the deposed administration, including the former president's younger brother Saïd, had been arrested.

Saïd Bouteflika is an Algerian politician and academic. He is the brother and was a special adviser of Abdelaziz Bouteflika in his former role as President of Algeria, on whom he would have had "considerable influence", especially after the president suffered a serious stroke in 2013. He was also an assistant professor at the University of Science and Technology Houari Boumediene (USTHB).

Abdelkader Zoukh is a former Algerian politician who served as the wali of Algiers from 2013 to 2019, and also as the wali of M'Sila, Aïn Témouchent, Mostaganem, Oran, and Sétif between 1991 and 2013. Zoukh was dismissed from his post as wali of Algiers due to the Hirak protest movement against the Algerian government that broke out in 2019, and was later sentenced to several years in prison for a variety of corruption cases.

References

  1. 1 2 "Britain extradites ex-billionaire to Algeria: report". People's Daily Online . Xinhua News Agency. 25 December 2013.  Archived 26 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ "Khalifa Bank trial: Abdelmoumène Khalifa sentenced to 18 years in prison".
  3. ↑ "Britain Orders Algeria Tycoon Extradited To France". Dalje.com. 29 August 2007. Archived from the original on 18 September 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2013.
  4. ↑ "The rise and fall of Rafik Khalifa, Algeria's golden boy". France 24. 28 April 2010. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  5. 1 2 3 "Les ultimes affaires de Khalifa". L'Express . 28 June 2004. Archived from the original on 14 September 2013.
  6. ↑ "UK nabs suspect in Algeria corruption case". The Daily Star. AFP. 7 April 2007. Archived from the original on 21 January 2016.
  7. ↑ "Algerian tycoon sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment". Al Bawaba. 22 March 2007. Archived from the original on 21 January 2011.
  8. ↑ "Life sentence for Algerian tycoon". BBC News . 22 March 2007. Archived from the original on 12 November 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2013.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "Londres autorise l'extradition de Khalifa" [London authorises the extradition of Khalifa] (in French). RFI. 29 August 2007. Archived from the original on 24 February 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2013.
  10. ↑ "Billionaire Rafik Khalifa extradited from London to Algeria". Itar-Tass . 25 December 2013. Archived from the original on 28 December 2013.
  11. ↑ "L'ex-magnat Rafik Khalifa extradé par Londres est arrivé à Alger" [Ex-tycoon Rafik Khalifa is extradited by London and has arrived in Algeria]. Le Parisien (in French). 24 December 2013. Archived from the original on 28 December 2013.
  12. ↑ "Algeria jails high-flying financier Rafik Khalifa". News24. 23 June 2015. Archived from the original on 8 February 2019. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.