Police have said today that this year alone they have blocked over 500 bank accounts in relation to scam cases.
Police have said today that this year alone they have blocked over 500 bank accounts in relation to scam cases.
Senior officials of Police and Communications Authority of Maldives were summoned to the Parliamen's Committee on State Owned Enterprises today to clarify actions taken on the decisions made by the SOE Committee's report of April 10 regarding Bank of Maldives.
Police's Anti Scam Centre Head and Inspector of Police Mariyam Rasheedha said that so far this year, these actions have been taken in relation to scam cases;
- 500 bank accounts blocked
- 782 device networks blocked
- 297 SIM cards terminated
- 70 web links blocked
Rasheedha said that 156 scam cases have been sent to the Prosecutor General for pressing charges. Many of these cases are now at trial stage, she said.
According to her, the Anti Scam Centre has been created in view of how the practice is done in other countries. This includes Australia, Singapore and Thailand. Maldives is currently adapting the system implemented in Singapore.
"We feel that the system used in Singapore is most ideal," she said.
She revealed that last year, 1661 scam related cases had been reported, involving MVR 20 million. So far this year, 1,302 cases have been reported.
According to police, all related authorities have met and deliberated on methods of stopping scam cases. They said that they are receiving cooperation in amending laws and regulations to better deter scam related crimes.