MVR 251,000 and USD 15,385 have gone missing from a couple's bank accounts within 24 hours.
Aishath Rasheeda, 38, and Abdul Hameed Hussain, 45, told Adhadhu that the money went missing on June 21 after Hameed's phone suddenly restarted and reset.
The phone problem occurred while the couple was in Haa Dhaal Nolhivaranfaru for Hameed's father's funeral.
They went to the island on June 18 and planned to solve the phone problem when they returned to Male' on Jun 22.
"On June 21, my husband's phone restarted at about 12:50 pm. It restarted and went off suddenly. We tried to open the phone, but it didn't work at the time," Rasheeda said.
"After a while, we were able to open the phone, but the SIM didn't work. It couldn't be used to call anyone. The phone looked like it had done a factory reset. I thought it was a problem with the phone. So we tried to use the SIM with another phone, but couldn't make any calls," she added.
The couple returned to Male' on June 22 and tried to use the SIM with a dumb phone. It showed the SIM as unregistered, so Rasheeda called Dhiraagu. The telecommunication service provider informed that an e-SIM had been registered under Hameed's name.
Rasheeda feared that fraud was involved and contacted the Bank of Maldives (BML). She found out that money was missing from her husband's BML Rufiyaa and dollar accounts. The couple immediately filed complaints with the police and all relevant agencies.
On July 23, the couple checked their accounts at the Maldives Islamic Bank (MIB) and found that more money was missing. An account had also transferred MVR 30,000 to Rasheeda's accounts and then transferred the money to a third account.
Details of the missing money
- Abdul Hameed Hussain’s BML MVR account: MVR 251,000
- Abdul Hameed Hussain BML USD account: USD 10,005
- Abdul Hameed Hussain MIB MVR account: MVR 70,000
- Abdul Hameed Hussain MIB USD Account: USD 4,405
- Aishath Rasheeda's MIB USD Account: USD 975
Rasheeda said police have so far recovered MVR 20,000 from the couple’s account, out of which MVR 15,000 had been transferred to the account, but MVR 5000 in cash had not been handed over.
Police said they were investigating the case, but did not give any further details.
Rasheeda said the information shared by the police showed that the money was transferred from the couple's account to other accounts and withdrawn from ATMs in Hulhumale', Laamu atoll, Fuvahmulah and Addu.
She added that the money was saved from her husband's job as a mechanic at Velana International Airport (VIA) over the past 27 years and that they were now struggling to pay rent, bills and other expenses.
Rasheeda's biggest concern is that the police were not responding to phone calls after promising to recover half of the lost money within 72 hours.
"We were told that Naveed is the head of the anti-scam centre. Now, we are not able to contact him."
"Sergeant Mohamed Junaid is investigating the case. Then he often does not answer my phone calls. He does not answer messages."
