Moroccan Authorities Probe Suspicious Financial Transfers to African Countries

The controllers of the Foreign Exchange Office are closely examining the declarations filed by three companies operating in various sectors ranging from construction and public works to modern technologies, payment solutions, financial and technical consulting, with the Office’s services. They are conducting a thorough examination of the documents and supporting documents related to works, services and supply contracts, used to obtain authorizations for the transfer of investment funds to African countries, from the accounts of Moroccan companies.

To carry out this mission, the controllers of the Foreign Exchange Office have sent requests for explanations to a company specializing in technical consulting and engineering services in the construction sector, suspected of unexplained delays in the domiciliation of profits from investments transferred over the past few years, some of which date back to 2021, according to sources at Hespress. They have noted contradictions between invoices attesting to the payment of contract installments and the amounts that are the subject of requests for transfer authorization from bank accounts opened in Morocco.

The controllers are then trying to find out the reasons for the delays in the domiciliation of transfers that have nevertheless been authorized, intended to finance investment projects - whether public or private - as well as the profits that have been generated. They discovered that the activities of the companies concerned were mainly focused on the construction sector. The total amount of financial transfers destined for Africa, currently under verification, has exceeded the threshold of 800 million dirhams, of which around 94 million dirhams correspond to undomiciled profits, according to the same sources. Enough to arouse the suspicions of the controllers.

The receipt of information from international control bodies, indicating that Moroccan businessmen operating in Africa had made financial transfers to destinations considered as "tax havens", by using offshore companies, has reinforced these suspicions. The controllers of the Foreign Exchange Office then focused on examining the declarations and transfers made by Moroccan companies, some of which have set up subsidiaries in Africa over the past three years. They took into account the data transmitted by the Directorate General of Taxes and on their right of access to bank accounts, in order to ensure the domiciliation in Morocco of the income and profits of investments, and to verify whether the companies concerned respect the exchange regulations, which prohibit the deposit of income from investments in accounts abroad.

It should be recalled that in 2022, the Foreign Exchange Office introduced new provisions, raising to 200 million dirhams per year the ceiling on the amounts that Moroccan investors are authorized to transfer abroad to finance their projects, without any restriction as to the destination.