Central monitoring services at Morocco’s Customs and Indirect Tax Administration have ordered regional inspection teams at the Tanger Med and Casablanca ports to investigate suspected customs fraud involving three Moroccan companies, sources told Hespress AR.
According to well-informed Hespress AR sources, the probes were launched based on detailed intelligence from the administration’s Risk Analysis and Vigilance Department.
The information pointed to discrepancies between declared import data and the actual goods marketed, prompting on-site inspections at the companies’ headquarters, warehouses and storage facilities.
Inspectors uncovered falsified invoices and underreported product values allegedly aimed at classifying imported goods into lower-tariff categories, the sources said.
A review of invoices, supporting documents and bank statements revealed foreign transfers exceeding declared import values, raising further suspicion. The goods under scrutiny, worth more than 2.7 billion dirhams ($270 million), include light manufacturing and construction equipment and machinery.
The investigation also found importers had allegedly altered product specifications to benefit from reduced customs duties, generating substantial profits.
Coordination with Morocco’s Foreign Exchange Office allowed customs inspectors to identify payment transfers to overseas suppliers that exceeded values declared to customs, with invoices differing from those filed with import declarations.
Morocco’s new AI-powered digital customs system, linked to databases of foreign customs agencies under data-sharing agreements, was key to detecting suspicious invoices. The platform cross-references global price data and relies on professional industry benchmarks to verify actual values.
The ongoing audits have expanded to cover suspected manipulation of technical specifications for goods imported under the “temporary admission” regime.
Inspectors have searched warehouses belonging to the companies involved, amid suspicions they imported goods under the tax-exempt system and sold them locally, below raw material costs, without re-exporting them, thereby securing large profit margins.
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