Foreign Exchange Office scrutinizes luxury shopping expenditures by Moroccans abroad

Data provided by European financial oversight services, particularly in Spain, France and Italy, have prompted Morocco’s Foreign Exchange Office to launch investigations into suspected irregularities involving large cash expenditures by Moroccan tourists abroad that exceeded the amounts declared upon departure through various border crossings.

According to Hespress AR sources with knowledge of the matter, information from European authorities regarding luxury shopping purchases by Moroccans, including expensive jewelry, watches and accessories bought with cash during trips abroad, has mobilized Foreign Exchange Office investigators, who have initiated extensive inquiries to determine the origins and movement of the funds.

The investigations have enabled authorities to identify several individuals suspected of transferring money abroad through illegal channels after discrepancies were detected between the amounts they declared to customs authorities and their actual expenditures overseas.

The same sources said the audits are focusing on comparing declarations made by the individuals when leaving Moroccan territory, particularly through Mohammed V International Airport, Marrakech Menara Airport and Tangier Med Port, with the volume of financial transactions recorded outside the Kingdom.

The sources added that notifications received from foreign financial oversight authorities contained detailed information on suspicious transfers between accounts owned by Moroccans permanently residing abroad, some of whom have acquired the nationality of their host countries. Investigators found that these individuals maintained links with the suspects under scrutiny.

According to the sources, Foreign Exchange Office inspectors are relying on electronic information exchanges with partner foreign administrations to trace financial transactions connected to the suspects. The investigations are aimed at verifying whether substantial sums were transferred abroad to finance lavish shopping expenditures through arrangements in which payments were made to designated parties inside Morocco in exchange for receiving the funds abroad, minus a commission.

The monitoring services, the sources said, intend in the coming weeks to send inquiries to Moroccan tourists and travelers who frequently visit foreign destinations, requesting explanations regarding their expenditures abroad after detecting inconsistencies between their spending and the foreign currency allowances authorized for tourism and business travel.

The sources stressed that inspectors will not hesitate to confront taxpayers over large payments made either in cash or through international bank cards for various purchases, hotel bookings, vehicle rentals and restaurant expenses.

These measures come as authorities intensify monitoring of the use of personal travel allowances, particularly after the General Instruction of Foreign Exchange, which entered into force at the beginning of January, increased personal travel allocations by 100,000 dirhams.

The maximum authorized amount rose from 400,000 dirhams to 500,000 dirhams, including a basic allowance of 100,000 dirhams and a supplementary allowance that can reach 400,000 dirhams, calculated on the basis of an additional amount equivalent to 30% of income tax paid. The allowance may be used for tourism, Umrah, Hajj or medical treatment abroad.

According to Hespress AR sources, expenditures by Moroccan business travelers, particularly those traveling to Europe, are also expected to undergo detailed audits following information indicating that doctors and engineers exceeded their annual travel allowances during just one or two trips.

Several of them were reportedly cited for violations at airports in Spain and France after being found in possession of undeclared amounts of foreign currency, mainly euros.