Casablanca, Morocco — In a landmark ruling, a Moroccan court sentenced Nabil Moafik to five years in prison and fined him $107,300 for human trafficking. The verdict marks Morocco’s first conviction tied to recruiting people for fraudulent online operations in Asia.
The case centered on several young Moroccans who accepted online job offers for high-paying call-center work in Thailand. Instead, they were trafficked to Myanmar, more than 9,300 miles (15,000 kilometers) away, and forced to participate in online fraud schemes under harsh conditions.
Moafik, who denied all charges, told the court he was merely a job mediator and unaware of any trafficking. “I was just connecting people to jobs. I never imagined this could happen,” he said.
Victims who testified described torture, forced labor, and ransom demands in the Myanmar compounds. Some said they were freed only after paying in cryptocurrency.
According to prosecutors, Moafik ran a Facebook group for Moroccan migrants in Turkey, where he posted fake job listings. One victim, Youssef Amzouz, applied for the position and later found himself coerced into trafficking networks.
A police report read in court alleged Moafik introduced Amzouz to another Moroccan who demanded either a ransom or the recruitment of 100 more people in exchange for freedom.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) noted that intermediaries like Moafik may sometimes be unaware they are part of trafficking operations, complicating cross-border prosecutions.
However, the state prosecutor maintained that Moafik sought to profit from human trade, labeling him “an essential element in the crime of human trafficking.”
Earlier this year, Hespress reported that Morocco’s Foreign Ministry had helped free 34 citizens trapped in Myanmar scam centers. The ministry did not comment on how many Moroccans have been affected overall.
