Criminal Court has sentenced an employee of the Bank of Maldives (BML) to 40 hours of community service after being found guilty of stealing more than MVR 480,000 from the accounts of bank customers.

Ali Mazin was a Customer Service Assistant at BML from September 2012 to October 2021.

According to the court verdict, he committed the offence between May 14, 2021 and September 23, 2021. During that period, he changed the details of 13 customers from the bank's system on different days, registered their internet banking without permission and withdrew money.

He stole a total of MVR 482,611 and used the money as invalid credit card payments, forex transactions and deposited it into his personal account.

He pleaded guilty to the charge of fraud and was sentenced to 40 hours of community service and a fine of MVR 56,200.

Meanwhile, in a statement issued on Monday, BML assured its customers that the money stolen by the employee had been refunded to the customers.

BML said the employee was dismissed immediately after investigating the matter. The bank said it has now credited the lost money to the customers' accounts.

The national bank said it will always investigate and take the strictest action against any employee who violates the bank's rules and regulations.

BML has assured that no such action will cause any financial loss to any of its customers.