Authorities have detained 13 people suspected of involvement in the illegal sale of currency as part of an operation to combat illicit foreign exchange activities launched Wednesday, Mozambique Customs announced.
“We have identified several establishments with authentic safes to hide what, in fact, should be declared [to the tax authorities]. We are committed to do everything, throughout the national territory, to ensure compliance with the law,” said the deputy director-general of Mozambique Customs, Fernando Alage, quoted today, July 21, by daily newspaper Notícias.
Alage said that the operation had already resulted in the seizure of “large sums of money,” which were deposited in the central bank, while investigations are underway to determine the provenance of the money.
“We have carried out several inspections throughout the country and about 90 percent of the establishments inspected are associated to the exercise of illegal exchange, and there are also numerous situations of non-invoicing, evasion of VAT and other taxes that they would eventually be obliged to pay,” said the deputy director general of Customs in Mozambique.
Foreign exchange activities in Mozambique have been under strong scrutiny by the authorities for being potentially vulnerable to financing organized crime and terrorism.