Man convicted of stealing EUR 10,000 fined and sentenced to do community service

Man convicted of stealing EUR 10,000 (MVR 162,114) from a tourist receives reduced sentence after confessing for the crime.

Jail sentenced reduced to man found guilty of stealing EUR 10,000 (MVR 162,114) from tourist flying out of Kooddoo Airport last year. Four men were accused of stealing the money from the luggage of the tourist.

Ali Saeed from Seenu Feydhoo was accused of stealing EUR 10,000 from the luggage of a German tourist flying out of Maldives, after their stay in Pullman Maldives Maamutaa Resort in 2021. He was accused of opening the luggage and stealing the money while transporting the luggage to the airport.

When the state pressed charges, Ali had plead guilty to the crime, and said he had returned the money in full to the police. Since he had confessed, the state requested for him to receive a sentence of one year and 12 days, as stated in the penal code, and deduct the period he had stayed in detention while the trial was ongoing from his sentence. However, Ali had requested for the minimum sentence, citing he earns his income from fishing, and also he had a sickly child he needed to take care of.

Ali had made a plead agreement with the court. Even though the agreement was not submitted with the charges pressed against him, it is clear that an agreement was made between the two parties.

Judge Hussain Faiz Rashad, who had presided over the case, had decided to reduce the sentence, stating that Ali had confessed to the crime before the trial had started. He had also said Ali had been remanded in custody for 10 days, and that the state did not object to Ali’s request for a lighter sentence.

Additionally, Ali has never been convicted of a criminal offence and as there is a lack of a criminal record for the past 13 years, the Judge had said the best way forward was to give him the opportunity to benefit the community.

Therefore, the judge decided to change the sentence of nine months and seven days in prison to a fine of MVR 37,400, and the remaining three months of jail time to 480 hours of community service. The sentence states that the fine must be paid to Maldives Inland Authority (MIRA) within five months from June 23 onwards.