Tunisia has arrested former minister Abderrahim Zouari and businessman Marouane Mabrouk, who was the son-in-law of ex-president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, on corruption charges, media reports said on Wednesday.
Both men were placed in pre-trial custody on Tuesday for five days, a renewable period, a spokesperson for the Tunis court of first instance, Mohamed Zitouna, was quoted as saying.
They were arrested on graft charges amid a national investigation into ill-acquired gains under Ben Ali, who was ousted in the 2011 Tunisian revolution and died in 2019.
Hefty fines
Zouari, who was transport minister from 2004 to 2011, is suspected of taking advantage of his position for personal gain, Zitouna said.
Following Ben Ali's removal in 2011, the state seized a number of companies, including Mabrouk's.
But many executives and owners remained at the heads of their companies with the state acting as a shareholder and inspector.
Mabrouk heads some of Tunisia's largest franchises including retail chain Monoprix, phone company Orange Tunisie and the Arab International Bank of Tunisia.
In 2022, Tunisia's President Kais Saied initiated a project where offenders pay hefty penalties for certain economic crimes rather than face prosecution, to raise state funds and reduce the national debt.
