Morocco Launches Tax Probe into Expat Real Estate Investments Amid Money Laundering Concerns

These investigations focus on investors, including Moroccans residing abroad (MRE), who have no specific training or experience in the real estate or construction sector, and whose ability to mobilize funds to carry out large-scale projects is questioned, sources told Hespress, specifying that those concerned have carried out real estate projects in Casablanca, where real estate prices are quite high, without taking out bank loans or resorting to external financing. A situation that has aroused the suspicions of controllers.

In their investigations, the latter discovered that the bank accounts of some developers’ companies, specializing in rentals, have carried out significant transactions, despite an occupancy rate of less than 50%. Electronic data exchanges with the General Tax Directorate (DGI) revealed considerable discrepancies between declared rents and those actually received.

ANRF investigators checked for possible links between these suspicious developers and individuals involved in drug trafficking or money laundering. In total, 54 cases involving suspicions of money laundering and terrorist financing were forwarded to prosecutors of the courts of first instance in Rabat, Casablanca, Fez and Marrakech, as well as to the Attorney General at the Rabat Court of Appeal. In 2024, the ANRF received 5,171 suspicious transaction reports related to money laundering, an increase of 53.76% compared to 2023.

The controllers do not rule out the possibility of complicity between the owners of these "office spaces" and certain tenants who sign rental contracts for excessive amounts, out of sync with their turnover and the real nature of their commercial activity. Another observation: these companies had inactive real estate stocks in strategic areas in several cities where prices are stable, allowing them to quickly sell these properties if needed and launder funds.