Morocco Cracks Down on Massive International Invoice Fraud Scheme

This joint operation aims to establish whether or not these companies are involved in illegal fund transfers abroad, through the falsification of invoices and declarations of import-export operations carried out via Mohammed V International Airport, the Tanger Med port and the port of Casablanca, in complicity with exporting and importing companies located in particular in Germany, Turkey and China.

The controllers of the Office des Changes and Customs have noted irregularities in the declarations of two companies specializing in the import of textiles, clothing, household utensils and industrial electrical equipment, suspecting them of illegal currency transfers abroad, particularly to Canada, Spain and Portugal. For the past five years, the two companies have been importing the same products from the same suppliers and have never fallen into the customs controllers’ nets, according to Hespress.

In their investigations, the investigators noted a generalization of "double invoicing" in the supplier countries of the Moroccan companies concerned. The exchange control officers have scrutinized all the financial operations and bank transfers carried out for the benefit of accounts belonging to foreign exporting companies, noting a laxity on the part of these companies which demanded high down payments, despite the significant value of the imported goods.

Moroccan exporters are also targeted. Investigators suspect them of having domiciled part of their profits abroad by manipulating invoices and product data sheets, in collusion with local importers who have adjusted their accounting, tax and customs declarations according to the transactions carried out with the exporters concerned.