Three Maldivians and one Malaysian man has been arrested by the Maldives Police Service on charges of using fake credit cards to purchase Rf3.5 million worth of goods from shops, Police have said.
At a news conference held at the Maldives Police Service building, the Head Inspector of the Criminal Investigative Department’s Commercial Crime Unit, Ismail Athif, said that it was the biggest credit card fraud case in Maldivian history and that the four men had been arrested on the 25th of last month. The investigation had been launched during September last year.
Police identified those they had arrested as Mohamed Shafraz, 28, of H. Nooranmaage; Mohamed Thamdheen, 21, of Olhuthereyge in Gaafu Dhaalu atoll Thinadhoo; Ahmed Saad, 22, of H. Senaa and the Malaysian man named Thakuyiddin bin Hashim, 33.
Police said that they were still looking for three other Malaysians living in Malaysia and two Sri Lankan men in connection to the case. Police did not reveal any additional information regarding them.
“This is a fraud case unlike any that has happened in Maldives before,” Athif said. “They had used the fake credit cards to buy a lot of goods from different shops. The total cost is estimated at Rf3.5 million.”
Athif said that it was believed that they had used around 80 fake credit cards to purchase the goods from Male’ shops. Each transaction made using the fake credit cards had been for around Rf100,000 to Rf200,000, Athif said, and added that all types and kinds of expensive goods had been bought using the fake cards.
The Head Inspector said that the lead role in committing the crimes had been played by the Malaysian man who had formerly worked as a technician for a credit card company. The three Maldivian men had acted as accomplices to Hashim, Athif said. Hashim had been arrested while he was in Male’ on a tourist visa.
“We believe that the Maldivians were following Hashim’s instructions,” Athif said. He said that they had found a lot of expensive goods, such as electronic equipment and jewelry, in the possession of each of the Maldivians who were involved in the crime. He said that the stuff were gifts that had been given to them for their part in the crime.
Police said that they had received invaluable help from Bank of Maldives and Cyprea Private Limited during the case. They had also requested assistance from the Malaysian Police and the Visa Card Centre in Singapore, Athif said. He also said that several shops in Male’ had already reported the crimes to the Police through the Bank of Maldives.
Source: http://www.haveeru.com.mv
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