EIB to take another look at SME funding in Morocco

Date:17/07/03

By David Cronin

THE European Investment Bank could re-evaluate its funding for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Morocco due to suspected irregularities in the use of money destined for the north African country.

Auditors with the European Union's lending arm are investigating the alleged misuse of its finance by Moroccan company Biopain. The EIB was informed of the suspicions earlier this year by Abdelkader Chatri, a former financial controller with Caisse Nationale de Crédit Agricole (CNCA).

The Moroccan credit institution received some ¿50 million in loans from the EIB in 1993-2002, to nurture SMEs.

After the first phase of its own probe concluded in late May, the EIB handed over details of the suspected irregularities to OLAF, the European Commission's anti-fraud office.

According to an EIB source, Biopain appears to be an isolated case. But the source said that if any wider concerns are raised about CNCA, he could imagine that the EIB would review its relations with that institution.

Meanwhile, the European Court of Justice has given OLAF the go-ahead to investigate any accusations of wrongdoing at the EIB or the European Central Bank which arise.

In a 10 July verdict, the Court struck out decisions taken by the EU's financial bodies, in which they had asserted their desire to conduct any fraud probes internally.