Investigation into money smuggling by offshore companies

Agadir 24 | Agadir24

Morocco’s financial oversight services are investigating suspicions of the involvement of businessmen and companies in smuggling money abroad through “offshore” companies, which were settled in countries classified as tax havens, specifically the “Fiji Islands” and the “Dominican Islands.”

According to what informed sources reported, the research that was opened in this regard comes after the National Financial Information Authority received notifications about suspicions from counterpart institutions in third countries, which formed a transit route for financial and bank transfers within the framework of commercial operations, in order to mislead the monitoring agencies in Morocco and other countries.

The same sources explained that the open research will use information from the interests of the Exchange Office and the General Administration of Customs and Indirect Taxes, in order to verify the extent of the activity of the suspected companies in Morocco and their financial and commercial operations abroad.

According to the same sources, the available data showed that these companies were employed to cover up the operations of smuggling money from Morocco to bank accounts in a number of countries abroad, as they are active in the field of services, commercial negotiations, and searching for business opportunities.

In addition, the same data revealed that Moroccan businessmen had strong relationships with companies affiliated with them, registered in the names of acquaintances and relatives, where significant sums of money were transferred to their accounts, in a legal manner, under the cover of business agreements signed between the party sending the money and the recipient. About investment opportunities, new markets, and the completion of expensive marketing studies, the value of one of which exceeded half a billion centimes.

The preliminary results of the ongoing research concluded that the suspects were involved in assigning “offshore” companies to search for new markets or commercial partners in a number of countries, which raised the value of the amounts in exchange for these doubtful services performed on the ground to important levels.

The questionable amounts of money were transferred on the basis that they were transactions for services provided by companies abroad, while the matter was related to the smuggling of funds, which were deposited in accounts belonging to the same companies.

Regarding the suspicious notices received by the National Financial Information Authority, it revealed that the activity of the “offshore” companies that were monitored exceeded the smuggling of the funds of individuals and companies to the provision of money laundering services in projects and investments in a group of countries upon request, in addition to the exploitation of these companies in import operations whose value was inflated. Financial means to be able to smuggle important sums.