The police of the Central Office for the Repression of Major Financial Delinquency (OCRGDF) dismantled a vast money laundering network between France and Morocco, via Spain. At the helm, a Chinese who collected the cash from cannabis trafficking to reintroduce it into the regular economic circuit through purchases from Chinese wholesalers in Aubervilliers.
Morocco is ranked 4th in the Arab world for the fight against money laundering, according to the Basel Governance Institute, which is based on the legal systems established by countries in terms of financial crime.
Morocco is constantly strengthening its fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism. The latest act to date: the adoption in the Council of Government of draft decree No. 2.21.633 relating to the organization of the National Financial Intelligence Authority (ANRF).
The Observatory of the North of Human Rights (ONDH) denounces "suspicious money laundering operations by drug trafficking networks and mafias operating between Morocco and several European countries such as Spain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, particularly in the real estate sector" and calls for an investigation.
Morocco has just met a major challenge, that of making its legal arsenal compliant with the recommendations presented by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), and the resulting standards. The House of Representatives adopted on May 26 the draft law No. 12.18 amending and supplementing the Penal Code and Law No. 43.05 on the fight against money laundering.
Despite the 2019 note from the public prosecutor’s office on Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (LBCT), several public prosecutors continue to twist the law. Yet Morocco needs its strict enforcement to obtain its ticket out of the FATF gray list, hence the strict reminder from the public prosecutor’s office.
In its 2020 report published last Tuesday, the Customs and Indirect Taxes Administration (ADII) reports a significant drop in smuggling. While in 2019, 585 million DH of goods were seized, the customs services recorded 242 MDH in 2020.
The financial brigade of the regional security of Marrakech is conducting an investigation into a huge case of money laundering of large sums of money. A network active in the city would be laundering drug money in real estate.
The draft law under consideration on money laundering was unanimously adopted overnight Monday by the deputies members of the justice commission in the House of Representatives. This is the last step before its final validation in plenary session scheduled for this Tuesday.
Divisional Commissioner Anne-Sophie Coulbois, head of the Central Office for the Repression of Major Financial Delinquency (OCRGDF), says that traffickers use underground bankers, particularly the "sarafs" who live in Morocco , to launder drug money.
Following the update of the status of the member countries of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) specialized in the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism, Morocco found itself on the list of countries "under increased surveillance". The Minister of Justice, Mohamed Ben Abdelkader, addresses the implications of this rank for Morocco.
The former Moroccan international, Rachid Bouaouzan, will appear in court in Rotterdam this week for his alleged involvement in international cocaine trafficking and money laundering cases.