An ex-Algerian presidential candidate Ali Ghediri is being detained on charges of forgery, his office has said.

“The former presidential candidate, Ali Ghediri, was put in temporary custody [in El Harrach prison west of the capital] after being brought before the investigating judge at the Casablanca court in Algiers,” a statement from the office of Ghadiri said on its Facebook page late Thursday.

It added that “a full statement on the issue will be published later,” without giving more details on the nature of the charges.

Other news sites reported that Ghediri was arrested as a result of fraud committed in the run up to the cancelled presidential elections scheduled for 18 April.

Ghediri’s office said it had been subjected to “security investigations” after his arrest the previous evening.

The 64-year-old retired from the army in 2015 and has served as a human resources officer in the Algerian Ministry of Defence for 15 years.

He was the first to announced his plans to run for president after the ousting of long-time dictator Abdelaziz Bouteflika.