The Civil Court issued a court order to Askoi Group yesterday to pay MVR 157,700 within a week to victims of fraud after they were not taken for Umrah despite having paid for the pilgrimage.
Six people filed charges against the company for taking money from them and not providing services in return. This includes people from two families in GDh. Thinadhoo and four people from a family in Male'.
The ruling issued by the Civil Court yesterday reads that the case was filed by the six plaintiffs against Askoi Travel Services Private Limited and company Managing Director Abdulla Rasheed to recover the MVR 155,700 payment for a Umrah pilgrimage and MVR 42,000 in legal fees.
Both the company and Managing Director have agreed to make the payments during trial. The court has ordered them to make the payments within seven days as per the agreement.
However, the court said that as the documents that were submitted as part of the plaintiffs efforts in recovering legal expenses from the defendants did not serve as sufficient proof in trial, there is no legal basis in being compensated for said expenses.
In July last year, the Ministry of Islamic Affairs revoked Askoi Group's license and took significant disciplinary action against them for collecting money from 28 individuals for Umrah without taking them on the pilgrimage, with the ministry deciding to not grant permission to both the company and any company that has shares in the group to conduct pilgrimages.
At that time, each individual had paid MVR 25,500 to the company, totaling MVR 714,000.
The Civil Court ordered Askoi Group to pay over MVR 185,000 to a family who sued the company after not being taken for Umrah despite having paid for the pilgrimage in February 2026 as well. The claim sought to recover MVR 155,250 and legal fees amounting to MVR 30,000.
According to company registries, the owners of Askoi Travel Service Private Limited are Abdulla Rasheed and Ahmed Sanil. Additionally, a company has also been established under the name Askoi Hajj Umrah Group.
