Construction Firms Under Investigation for Suspected Money Laundering Scheme

A bank branch manager reported suspicious transactions on the accounts of companies operating in the Building and Public Works (BTP) sector to his management. The general management then alerted the National Financial Intelligence Authority (ANRF), which launched an investigation, reports Hespress. Initial findings reveal regular deposits of significant amounts via checks issued by commercial partners affiliated with shell companies. These almost daily deposits made to the accounts of recently created companies raised suspicions of the bank executive who reviewed the documents provided by these companies to open their bank accounts.

The ANRF investigators focused their investigations on four suspicious companies that regularly settled their debts via bank transfers and checks. They sought to identify the real beneficiaries of the transferred funds as well as the identity of service providers or beneficiaries of works, while also analyzing their tax situation, discovering that some of these companies, managed by Moroccans residing abroad, particularly in France, are in compliance with Moroccan tax authorities and filed their tax returns on time. However, analysis of the tax returns of two of these companies revealed inconsistencies with their bank statements and provided accounting data. These irregularities particularly concerned over-invoicing of construction material prices, equipment, and labor costs.

The ANRF transmitted 71 cases of money laundering and terrorist financing to the courts of Rabat, Casablanca, Fes, and Marrakech, as well as to the Attorney General at the Rabat Court of Appeal in 2023, it states in its annual report, noting an increase of 31.48% compared to the previous year. The cases mainly concern falsification or alteration of bank statements, payment methods or other supporting documents, cases of fraud and scams, or money laundering through sports betting, pyramid selling schemes, and crypto assets.