Minister of Homeland Security, Labour and Technology Ali Ihusaan has stated that upon looking into seven unlicensed foreign currency exchange companies, it was revealed they had exchanged USD 77 million on the black market over nine months.
During the press conference held at the President's Office, Minister Ihusaan said that there are currently 63 registered foreign currency exchange service providers in Maldives. He said that there are quite a number of those who are unauthorized that provide said service, and upon looking into seven of them, they uncovered that they had sold USD 77 million on the black market.
Minister Ihusaan reminded that the unauthorized sale of foreign currency exchange is illegal in Maldives, requesting that no one should involve themselves in such an act.
"The money procured from this criminal offense being used for personal reasons, business purposes and gaining undue benefits is, by definition in Maldivian law, money laundering. Even if they are aware of it or not, they are engaging in money laundering activities," said Ihusaan.
Most amount of USD exchanged on the black market from resorts
According to Minister Ihusaan, their investigations have shown that unauthorized foreign currency exchange vendors do not bring USD into Maldives nor do they provide a service where revenue can be generated in USD. He said that they have looked into the parties that provide USD to the vendors.
"Some unknown parties must be giving them USD in order to exchange currency. We have looked into who has been giving foreign currency to the vendors for exchange purposes, which are those who generate income in USD in Maldives," said Ihusaan.
"We have unfortunately uncovered famous Maldivian resorts who are a part of this. One of the resort chains has exchanged USD 4 million on the black market over the last nine months."
Minister Ihusaan went on to say that the amount exchanged on the black market from some resorts is 20 percent higher than the amount set by the Maldives Monetary Authority's (MMA) foreign currency exchange regulation for banks.
"The USD amount for currency exchange that has been set under MMA's regulation is much lower than this. However, the argument is that 20 percent is too high. USD is available when selling on the black market but it is unavailable to exchange via the MMA," Ihusaan said.
Along with resorts, Ihusaan said that other parties that provide various services to the tourism industry exchange USD on the black market. He also stated that people who are given their income or generate revenue in USD are included in this, and reminded that it is a criminal offense.
