Several parliamentarians have called for amendments to the Banking Act to better combat the growing issue of scams in the Maldives. These remarks were made during a debate on a proposed amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act.
The proposed amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act was introduced by Parliamentarian Mohamed Ibrahim. It seeks to grant the Maldives Police Service the authority to temporarily seize funds in bank accounts without a court order in order to investigate scam cases.
During the debate, Parliamentarian Ahmed Azaan argued that simply amending the Criminal Procedure Act would not be sufficient to address the rising number of scams. He highlighted that, in other countries, banks play a crucial role in monitoring the flow of money, and suggested that the Banking Act should be amended to better prevent scams.
Azaan's views were echoed by Parliamentarians Qasim Ibrahim and Husnee Mubarik, who also expressed support for amending the Banking Act. Meanwhile, Parliamentarian Hussain Ziyad acknowledged that the proposed amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act would bring about some positive changes, even if it might not fully resolve the issue of increasing scam cases.