Morocco Reports 47% Drop in Financial Crime Cases in 2021

In 2021, the Moroccan justice system dealt with 774 cases of financial crimes, corresponding to a 47.30% decrease compared to 2020, when 1,486 cases had been referred to the specialized departments in various cities, the report indicates. Eight cases related to financial crimes were also entrusted by the Attorney General at the Court of Auditors to the Prosecutor’s Office during the period, it adds.

This decrease in financial crime cases is attributable to the "efforts made by the public prosecutor’s office in handling chronic cases, in particular by accelerating the pace of preliminary investigations [...] and the filing of appeals within reasonable time frames," the document points out.

For the prosecution, the citizen is an "essential actor in the protection of public money," since he is the source of several reports concerning offenses of embezzlement, corruption or misappropriation of public property.

The report also looked at the reporting of acts of corruption. According to the figures, the dedicated telephone hotline recorded a total of 8,090 calls in 2021, with an average of nearly 60 calls per day.