Morocco Reports Drop in Overall Crime, but Financial Offenses Surge

Out of 83,757 incarcerated persons, 27% were imprisoned for financial delinquency in 2018. Alarming figures that indicate the high rate of financial offenses in Morocco.

More than 620,000 financial crimes and offenses were recorded between 2012 and 2018. According to the newspaper L’Economiste, the judicial institution responsible for defending the general interest recalled that "fighting these offenses is a necessity to preserve the economic security of individuals and the community".

L’Economiste specified that among the offenses, theft is in the lead with 43,192 cases, followed by fraud, breach of trust and attack on real estate.

The prosecuted persons are mostly civil servants or representatives of the public authority such as the caids.