Amendment proposed to grant Police power to seize accounts without court order in scam cases

An amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act has been proposed to give Maldives Police Service the power to temporarily freeze bank accounts without a court order in cases involving fraud or scams.

The amendment was proposed by MDP MP Mohamed Ibrahim (Kudu) who represents the Galolhu North constituency.

Currently, under Section 73 of the Criminal Procedure Act, bank accounts can only be frozen through a court order if a serious criminal offense is detected during monitoring under a monitoring order.

MP Mohamed Ibrahim's amendment seeks to give police the power to temporarily freeze accounts.

The amendment states that in addition to serious criminal offenses, if there is evidence of fraud or scams involving money, or reasons supporting such activities, court orders can be requested to freeze related accounts for a specific period. It also allows police to issue orders to freeze funds in accounts or transferred to other accounts during the time it takes for the court to make a decision.

According to the amendment, the order must be issued by an officer of Sub-Inspector rank or higher. The account freeze order must be promptly communicated to the bank and the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA).

MP Mohamed Ibrahim stated that he proposed this bill because the police had informed the parliament's SOE committee that a legal solution was needed to stop the flow of money in bank accounts involved in scam cases without a court order.

"If a quick solution is not found, it could cause extreme harm to the citizens and the country. [The amendment was proposed] with the intention of expediting the implementation of the aforementioned measure through a direct change to the law," the MP said.

Mariyam Rasheeda, Head of the Anti-Scam Center and Inspector of Police, had expressed concern in the committee about the lack of a legal mechanism to freeze funds in various accounts involved in scam cases from the moment they are reported.

As scam cases have increased, several cases involving millions of rufiyaa have been reported to the police this year. The police have managed to recover a significant portion of the money in such cases.