Assisted by the National Financial Intelligence Authority (ANRF), a bank managed to unmask a money laundering scheme following a transfer from the tax haven of Nauru, located in the Pacific. The beneficiary is a Moroccan living abroad (MRE), owner of a travel agency in Morocco, who wanted to invest the huge sum received in a tourism project in the north of the kingdom.
The Antwerp court handed down a heavy sentence against Moroccan kickboxer Jamal Ben Saddik , sentencing him to forty months in prison and a fine of 40,000 euros. His brother Said and a close friend also received prison sentences and fines for their involvement in a vast money laundering and fraud system.
Accused of money laundering, the kickboxer Jamal Ben Saddik appeared in a Belgian court on Friday. The prosecution requested a 40-month prison sentence against the Belgian-Moroccan, who will be informed of his fate in a month.
Suspicious real estate transactions in Tangier, Kenitra, Bouznika and Casablanca are alerting the National Financial Intelligence Authority (ANRF). Faced with the influx of "anonymous funds" in these cities, notaries, real estate agents and banking institutions have reported dubious practices, prompting the ANRF to seize the competent public prosecutor’s office.
The fight against money laundering and terrorist financing activities is making significant progress in Morocco. This is evidenced by the number of suspicious reports received by the National Financial Intelligence Authority (ANRF) in 2022.
The Civil Guard conducted a search on Wednesday at the headquarters of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) which is the subject of a judicial investigation for corruption, discrimination and money laundering. The outcome of these investigations could lead to the invalidation of Spain’s bid for the 2030 World Cup that it was to organize jointly with Morocco and Portugal.
In Spain, Karim Bouyakhrichan (46), one of the main leaders of the Mocro maffia , a mafia organization based in the Netherlands and Belgium, arrested in January in the seaside resort of Marbella, on suspicion of money laundering from drug trafficking, has been released.
In Morocco, the public prosecutor’s offices of the courts of first instance have started to transfer to the new chambers in charge of money laundering crimes the files of commune presidents and parliamentarians convicted of embezzlement and misappropriation of public funds.
The investigation into the embezzlement of more than 50 million dirhams by the director of a bank branch in Khouribga reveals the involvement of several other individuals, including notables. They were arrested for money laundering, forgery and use of forgeries, as well as false declarations.
The Office of Foreign Exchange informs natural and legal persons residing in Morocco, with a tax residence, registered office or tax domicile in Morocco, and who have constituted assets and liquidity abroad before January 1, 2023, in violation of the foreign exchange regulations, that they can already start making their declarations directly with the bank of their choice.
Moroccan notaries have decided to take an active part in the fight against money laundering in real estate.
A recent report from the Basel Institute of Governance reveals that Morocco is among the countries least exposed to money laundering and terrorist financing risks in the MENA region. Its eastern neighbor, Algeria, is on the other hand one of the "high risk" countries.