Morocco Launches Anti-Money Laundering Agency to Seize Criminal Assets

On Monday, Abdellatif Ouahbi, Minister of Justice, during an important regional meeting held in Rabat on the theme "Monitoring, freezing and confiscation of criminal assets", announced the creation of a National Agency for the Recovery and Management of Seized and Confiscated Funds and Assets, reports Al Akhbar. The Ministry of Economy and Finance had already proceeded to the development of a draft law on the creation of this new body responsible for centralizing the management of assets from criminal activities - all kinds of illegal assets seized, confiscated, frozen or even placed under the regime of criminal preventive seizure -, he specified.

This new agency will have to contribute more effectively to the fight against money laundering and cross-border crime. This will allow Morocco to better respect its international commitments in terms of tracking, seizing and confiscating assets acquired through criminal means. Morocco is a contracting party to multiple conventions, especially with regional networks, including the Regional Asset Recovery Network for the Middle East and North Africa region. The kingdom has also signed some 80 bilateral conventions with many countries, particularly European ones, and relating to criminal judicial cooperation.

The seized or confiscated assets will be injected into the financing mechanism for economic and social development projects, which will have a positive impact on the country’s economy and the economies of the states in the region.