The Maldives Police Service (MPS) has disclosed that USD 19.5 million has been lost in scam cases up until July this year.
In a meeting between the MPS and the Communications Authority of the Maldives (CAM), officials discussed the implementation of the conclusions from the report submitted on April 10 by the Parliamentary Committee on State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) regarding the Bank of Maldives (BML).
Speaking at the committee meeting, Anti-Scam Head Inspector of Police Mariyam Rasheeda said that significant progress was made on the report and had taken strong actions against the issues identified. Rasheeda said that 1,661 scam cases were reported in 2023, resulting in a loss of USD 1.3 million. She said that 1,302 cases were reported from January to July this year, with USD 908,000 lost. She also highlighted that scams are prevalent in various businesses in the marketplace.
Additionally, Rasheeda outlined the challenges faced by the MPS in investigating scam cases, such as the rapid movement of money between accounts, which complicates the process of obtaining court orders. She explained that there is no legal mechanism to hold money in other accounts without a court order, which is difficult to secure promptly due to the quick loss of funds in scam cases. She also said that a lack of immediate access to information from banks and communication service providers poses a significant obstacle.
Furthermore, Rasheeda said that 156 scam cases have been filed with the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) so far this year. She also said that many cases have already been prosecuted.