An Algiers court sentenced Zoulikha Nachinache, the alleged daughter of former president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, to 12 years in prison after she was convicted of corruption.
Two ministers also received 10-year sentences each in the same case.
The case of Nachinache, widely known as Madame Maya, exposed the level of corruption in major state institutions including the presidency, according to lawyers familiar with the matter.
Nachinache, 40, was arrested last year by the police after she was convicted of money laundering, influence peddling, squandering public funds and the illicit transfer of foreign currency abroad.
For many years, Nachinache used her family ties to Bouteflika for personal interests, and security investigations revealed that she was related to him. However, the nature of their relation remained a mystery.
During the trial, which lasted for a week, lawyers demanded the court to summon Bouteflika as a witness, but the judge rejected.
It is known that Bouteflika is not married and doesn’t have any children.
The two ex-ministers, Mohamed Ghazi and Abdelghani Zaalane, denied the charges brought against them, insisting that Bouteflika’s private secretary, Mohamed Rougab, asked them to grant Nachinache projects and investments, within their capacity as governors.
According to the investigation, Nachinache chose Chlef and Oran governorates, west of the country, to implement the projects. She was granted services by Ghazi and Zaalane who were governors of the two states at the time.
Rougab told the ministers that the orders came from the president. They stated that they could not reject the presidential orders.
According to Algerian law, governors, as representatives of the government, have broad authorities to use public money and grant public deals.
Rougab told the court that he had received a recommendation from Bouteflika regarding his supposed daughter, and he was forced to report the orders to the governors.
The Director General of National Security, Abdelghani Hamel, has admitted that top presidential officials asked him to install security cameras in Nachinache’s residence.
Bouteflika's alleged daughter lived for a long time in the presidential residence at a resort in Algiers.
Hamel is serving a 15-year prison sentence on corruption charges. The judiciary has also indicted his wife and three sons, giving them heavy prison sentences in the same case.
