Rabat – The Minister of Justice, Abdellatif Ouahbi, announced on Wednesday that the government is compiling a list of associations suspected of laundering money.
Morocco has fallen two places in global think tank Transparency International’s 2024 Corruption Perception Index (CPI), now ranking 99th out of 180 countries with a score of 37/100, indicating a continued regression in the country’s anti-corruption performance over recent years.
Ouahbi noted that no concerns have been raised against Transparency International (TI) and they remain unaffected by this investigation despite an ongoing government-level disagreement. During a session in the House of Representatives, Ouahbi addressed concerns raised by Justice and Legislation Committee members.
“With the exception of Transparency [International], with whom we have a government-level disagreement but no specific concerns, we are currently preparing a list for potential transmission to the public prosecutor,” stated the minister.
Ouahbi confirmed that the list, which could potentially be forwarded to the public prosecutor, is being compiled carefully.
In his statement, Ouahbi pointed out the need for individuals whose declared income does not align with their accumulated assets to justify the source of their wealth. “Those who own villas and cars without declaring their income…isn’t that money laundering?” warned the minister.
The minister clarified that the proposed amendments to the Moroccan criminal code would introduce measures to monitor tax declarations and pursue legal action against individuals making false statements.
“Should we conduct this fight in a Stalinist manner, imprisoning everyone before identifying the innocent, or should we follow a legal approach, respecting the presumption of innocence until the guilty are identified?”
Transparency International’s latest ranking, released on Tuesday, shows Morocco losing one point from its 2023 score of 38/100. The index uses a scale from 0 to 100, where 0 indicates high corruption levels and 100 represents complete integrity.
Despite the declining ranking, Morocco reports progress in its domestic anti-corruption initiatives. Government spokesperson Mustapha Baitas announced in January that 76% of the objectives outlined in Morocco’s National Anti-Corruption Strategy have been achieved.
