Scammer who took thousands from prospective tenants jailed

A scammer who had taken hundreds of thousands of Rufiyaa from people who wanted to rent an apartment had his sentence reduced to just a fine of MVR 115,200, and has been sentenced to jail due to not abiding by the sentencing.

The individual in question is Abdulla Husham, Ma. Bulaashamge. His jail sentence is set to one year, five months and 24 days and was sentenced on Tuesday. 

He was charged with fraud and sentenced on 15th August 2024. The sentence was originally jail time of one year, seven months and six days which got reduced to a fine of MVR 115,200 for it to be paid within six months to MIRA.

Since he hadn't been able to pay the amount in full, the punishment was sent for review to the Prosecutor General's Office. This resulted in a report stating that he had only paid MVR 6,700 until now.

When Husham was sent a summons to attend a hearing regarding the review of his punishment for 17th March, he had failed to show up without a proper reason. When he was sent a second summons, he had sent a letter stating that he had fallen ill but had not provided a medical certificate, as per the report. When he failed to show up multiple times afterwards, he was made to attend the hearing under Police arrest.

When Husham was charged, it was stated that he had taken MVR 900,000 from five people. The money came from advances being paid for an apartment in Ma. Bulaashamge for an extended period of time. This incident occurred in 2015. He had made one individual sign a contract and had taken money from them, and then going on to sign agreements with other individuals without handing over the apartment each time. 

Husham had pleaded not guilty to the crime. But the evidence stated otherwise.

When his jail sentencing for fraud was reduced, he had failed once again to make his payments, resulting in it being reversed to a jail sentence.