Associates of the Algerian automobile mogul have investigated: the prosecutor

A prosecutor said Tuesday that 45 people, including senior officials linked to Algerian car magnate Mahieddine Tahkout, were under investigation for bribery and money laundering.

Out of 56 people of interest in the case, 45 are under judicial investigation, announced the prosecutor of Algiers in a statement broadcast on state television.

The investigating judge had "decided to place 19 defendants in pre-trial detention and to release seven" suspects ", the statement said.

The other 19 people under investigation are still free, without restrictions, he added.

A lawyer from Tahkout told AFP on Monday that the tycoon had been remanded on charges of corruption.

Tahkout is a close badociate of longtime leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who was forced to step down in April after weeks of mbad protests.

Demonstrations have been going on since the resignation of the troubled president, as protesters demand that regime insiders leave their country as precursors of independent institutions set up.

Thousands of students and teachers took to the streets of the capital on Tuesday to reject the dialogue with interim president Abdelkader Bensalah.

The Tahkout business group owns one of the largest automobile dealerships in Algeria.

Among the defendants alongside Tahkut are his son and two of his brothers, 38 officials and three employees of Tahkout companies, according to the prosecutor.

The 45 people under investigation are under investigation for money laundering, concealing the illegal transfer of goods obtained by corruption and squandering public money.

Among the remaining 11 people of interest are a former prime minister, two former ministers and a current minister, said the statement, without naming.

The positions held by the 11 at the time of the alleged facts mean that they enjoy immunity, but their cases have been forwarded to the public prosecutor for him to decide what action to take.

The Justice Ministry announced Monday that the upper house of Algeria would decide on June 19 on the opportunity to lift the parliamentary immunity of two ministers of the Bouteflika era, Said Barkat. and Djamel Ould Abbes.

Several politicians and businessmen linked to Bouteflika have been arrested or interrogated for corruption since the president was forced to withdraw after two decades of power.