Morocco Investigates Illegal Investment Transfers to France and Singapore

The transfers were authorized, but their actual destination now intrigues Moroccan authorities. Controllers from the Office of Exchange have intensified their verifications on Moroccan investors suspected of having diverted part of funds legally transferred abroad.

On Bladi.net : Moroccan Authorities Probe Suspicious Financial Transfers to African Countries

According to Hespress, the investigations focus on bank transfers granted to finance investment projects, but part of which allegedly served to acquire other undeclared assets. The identified investments would concern in particular shares, financial assets, investment securities and savings products on European and Asian markets.

France and Singapore are among the countries cited in the elements gathered by the controllers. The verifications concern a list of six investors, suspected of having held property, accounts or financial assets abroad without declaring them to the Office of Exchange.

The investigators would also have identified operations involving real estate and commercial property, some of which would later have been registered in the names of relatives. Other suspicions concern irregularities in the declaration of profits made abroad and their late repatriation to accounts in Morocco.

Legal transfers that became suspicious

The controls are based on data gathered by the Office of Exchange’s risk monitoring and analysis service, in coordination with the customs administration and the General Tax Directorate. The companies concerned operate in several sectors, including construction, agribusiness, textiles, pharmaceutical distribution, new technologies and real estate.

The verifications would have revealed inconsistencies between the actual accounting data of certain companies and the declarations transmitted to the Office of Exchange. The authorities are now seeking to determine whether transfers authorized for specific investments were redirected towards other undeclared investments.

Information requests would also have been sent to foreign control bodies in order to trace the circulation of funds between several countries. The investors and companies benefiting from these authorizations have been invited to provide documents on the use of transferred amounts, the sums repatriated and the exact nature of their activities.

The case comes in a context of relaxation of Moroccan investment rules abroad. Since 2022, Moroccan investors can transfer up to 200 million dirhams per year to finance projects outside Morocco, without destination restrictions. The previous ceiling was 150 million dirhams, with a distinction between Africa and the rest of the world.

On Bladi.net : Morocco Probes $70 Million in Suspicious Foreign Transfers by Investors

But this opening is now accompanied by enhanced controls. Offenders risk heavy financial penalties, which can reach up to six times the value of concealed assets. They could also face prosecution for illegal currency transfer if suspicions of financial flow manipulation are confirmed.