The General Directorate of Customs and Indirect Taxes has launched a comprehensive investigation into suspected import operations that have been exploited to launder money abroad, according to reliable sources of Hespress Ar.
Customs intelligence and data analysis units at the National Customs Brigade detected irregularities in import declarations for goods originating from Southeast Asia, particularly Hong Kong and China.
The declared prices for these goods significantly exceeded their actual value, facilitating the transfer of substantial sums of money to the accounts of foreign exporters under the guise of legitimate commercial transactions.
Customs authorities have coordinated their investigation with the Foreign Exchange Office to verify the value and legality of financial transfers linked to these suspicious import operations.
These operations were primarily associated with newly established companies that imported small household and professional items such as furniture, utensils, lamps, and repair tools.
International customs data exchange revealed evidence of inflated import invoices, with prices for some goods inflated by up to 70%.
The data also indicated widespread use of double invoicing in the exporting countries, suggesting involvement of organized networks providing complete documentation for importers.
Ongoing investigations have identified several exporting companies, and their details have been circulated to customs control units at various border crossings.
Customs authorities have relied on their expertise in monitoring import and export invoices to detect suspicious documents and subject them to in-depth scrutiny. This process is supported by a surveillance system based on alerts from various sources.
Detailed information from the Foreign Exchange Office revealed that financial transfers were made to accounts held by foreign companies and quickly transferred to other bank accounts controlled by the same companies.
Customs authorities face additional challenges in processing import and export files, particularly the practice of undervaluing goods in declared invoices.
To address this issue, customs have developed new surveillance methods and implemented mechanisms to limit the impact of this practice, resulting in the recovery of billions of additional revenue.
Their strategy for scrutinizing suspicious transactions involves mutual administrative assistance by requesting information from foreign customs administrations.
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