Tag: police

Police Integrity Commission requests PG prosecute former Deputy Commissioner Rishwan

The Police Integrity Commission (PIC) has concluded its investigation into complaints filed by several individuals claiming they were unlawfully arrested and mistreated in custody in July 2010, requesting former Police Deputy Commissioner Mohamed Rishwan be prosecuted for alleged violation of the Police Act.

According to local media citing the PIC investigation report, Rishwan admitted to giving the order to his subordinates to cut the hair of several individuals arrested during a special operation, including minors.

PIC Chairwoman Shahindha Ismail did not respond to Minivan News at the time of press.

Rishwan meanwhile resigned from the post of Deputy Commissioner on July 12 this year, informing local media that he wished to spend more time with his family.

In July last year, police and the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) arrested almost 60 people, including children, in a joint special operation launched to curb the rise in gang violence.

Many arrested at the time claimed that their mobile phones and personal belongings were confiscated and not returned when they were released.

Almost everyone arrested in the operation was released without any charges.

A number of those arrested claimed they were mistreated and abused in custody, including being forced to remove their clothes, blindfolded and beaten.

“I was arrested while I was on the way to Dharumavantha Scool to get a document,” one of those arrested told Minivan News in July 2010. “While I was waiting near the traffic lights on Sosun magu, two policemen and two MNDF officers told me to be freeze, came up behind me and handcuffed me and my friend.”

“I asked them on what charges they were arresting me, and where they were taking me, and they said they needed me to clarify some information.”

He said the officers pushed him into a police bus and blindfolded him with his hands tied with clips.

“They took me to a place and removed my silver ear-rings, my bracelets, necklace and sunglasses,” he claimed. “Then they took me to a place and removed the blindfold on my eye, and ordered me to remove my clothes. I refused, but I had no other choice so I did, and they told me to bend over. They harassed me verbally and physically.”

He said the officers were covering their faces.

“After checking me they blindfolded me again, and then took me to somewhere else. I asked them where they were taking me, they said that I should speak only when I am spoken to,” he said. “They pushed me into another room, where they trimmed my hair. When I tried to refuse, they hit beat me.”

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Police recover stolen gold necklace

Police have arrested two minors who stole a necklace from a foreign woman after holding a knife to her throat in Male’ yesterday.

The woman was walking down Majeedhee Magu in the evening yesterday when she was robbed by the juvenile offenders near the VB Mart in Maafanu ward.

According to police, the offenders were aged 15 and 16. Police recovered the gold necklace and returned it to the victim.

The child and family protection unit is investigating the case.

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ACC investigates Disaster Management with forensic experts

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) yesterday entered the Disaster Management Center (DMC) with a police escort to investigate files relating to a 2006 housing construction project in Laamu atoll.

The Ministry of Housing and Environment did not comment on the investigation’s purpose, which is being conducted four months after outstanding payments to the construction company were made.

Movey Construction Company was hired under the former government to manage an Rf18 million project in 2006, which was completed in 2007. In 2009, DMC delayed payments due to a financial shortage, and in January 2011 Movey Construction filed a complaint for financial losses.

Deputy Minister of Housing and Environment, Ahmed Zaki, said he had been puzzled by the delay. “All the paperwork was in order,” he told Minivan News today. Moreover, the complaint against the Disaster Management Center “had enough evidence, and the payments were made with approval by the Finance Ministry in May.”

Zaki said forensic experts had accompanied ACC staff yesterday to “review paperwork and files in a clear and informed fashion. The hard drives which had been removed for further examination were returned today, all clear.”

When asked if the ACC investigation implied a concern for corruption, Zaki said he did not believe there was any reason to suspect corruption in the dealings between DMC and Movey Construction Company.

“This is just an accusation because payments were delayed. But the payments were made this May with sufficient documents from all parties. The financial system in the Maldives is very transparent, there are a lot of layers, checks and balances, so I am confident that there is no issue of corruption here,” he said.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said the police would provide support as needed during the investigation.

“We have a signed agreement with the ACC to provide support as needed. Our forensic experts are currently working on the case,” Shiyam said.

Members of Movey Construction Company and the ACC were not available for comment.

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Police sign memorandum with US government for counter-terrorism cooperation

The Maldives Police Service signed a Memorandum of Intent (MoI) with the US government on Tuesday to “enhance the abilities of the law enforcement agencies of the government of Maldives to deter terrorists and terrorist groups from engaging in international terrorist acts.”

The MoI was signed by Commissioner of Police Ahmed Faseeh on behalf of the government while the Ambassador of the United States of America, Patricia Butenis, signed for the American government.

According to a police press statement, the US State Department would be providing assistance to the Maldivian police under its anti-terrorism assistance programme.

The purpose of the MoI is to establish a mechanism for local law enforcement to cooperate with the US government in counter-terrorism activities, the statement said.

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Police bust cash card fraud network in joint operation with Sri Lanka

Police have busted a cash card fraud network reported to have stolen more than Rf700,000 (US$45,000) in expensive luxury items through the use of forged cards.

Police have arrested and identified five Maldivians in the network as Abdul Gany Abdul Majeed, 30, Thoriq Jameel, 30, Abdulla Akram, 22, Nadheem Masoodh 32, Ali Ahmed 28.

Speaking to the press today at police headquarters, Inspector Mohamed Riyaz said that Abdul Gany and Thoriq were arrested inside a casino in Sri Lanka in a joint operation conducted with the Lankan Police.

The two arrested in Sri Lanka had VIP cards for the casino they were arrested inside, noted Riyaz, adding that Gany was arrested in possession of Rf 4845, Sri Lankan Rupees 250,090 and US$5128, while Thoriq was arrested with 31,580 Srilankan Rupees and US$500 in his pockets.

Riyaz said Ali Ahmed was arrested at Male’ International Airport when he arrived in the Maldives from India on September 20.

He added that some of the credit and debit cards they had forged were made to resemble membership cards for certain venues and were hard to identify with a cursory glance.

Thorig, a shareholder of a famous movie shop ‘Club Infinity’, had membership cards of the shop which was actually a debit and credit card, Riyaz told the press.

Riyaz said some of the cards were made in the name of customers of banks in New Zealand, Canada, Australia, China and France – cards that appeared in the form of Maldivian cash cards but had the data of foreign banks’ customers encoded to them.

Police confiscated the electronic machines used to conduct the fraud, which the police said had the ability to obtain all information of any magnetic card and edit the information.

Police believe they might have used the cards and bought products from other countries as well, and said that they may have connection to a foreign network.

Police have been investigating the fraud network for six months, Riyaz noted.

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Findings in Huraa drowning investigation revealed to families

The Education Ministry has shared the results of its investigation into the drowning accident in Kaafu atoll Huraa with families of the deceased. The accident left four students and a principal of Hiriya School dead earlier this month.

Details of the investigation have not been released to the public.

The Ministry did issue a statement recommending schools amend their budgets to accommodate a program which would establish safety measures, implement precautionary measures at campsites jointly with relevant authorities, and familiarise management officials and employees with these measures by the end of the year, Haveeru reports.

Police are continuing their investigation of the incident. Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said investigators are taking care to respect families and friends involved.

“The police are doing a very detailed investigation, and we are respecting the victims’ families, students, teachers and classmates. We have to give them time to recover, so we are not forcing them to participate more than they are willing to at this time,” said Shiyam.

Shiyam said evidence from the site of the incident and nearby Huraa island has been gathered and is being processed. He said the investigation will be done as soon as possible.

Minister Shifa Mohamed, School Board Chairperson, Deputy Education Minister Dr Abdulla Nazeer and Dr Abdul Muhsin Mohamed, who chaired the committee tasked to investigate the accident, also met with the families of the deceased, reports Haveeru. Education Minister Abdullah Nazeer assured the families that the recommended measures would be implemented.

The Education Ministry had not responded to inquiries at time of press.

Nashath Saeed of Meenaz/Gaaf Alif atoll Dhehvadhoo, Mariyam Naaz of Suvaasaage/Haa Alif atoll Hoarafushi, Aishath Shaaniha of Handhuvary Villa/Raa atoll Rasmaadhoo and Mariyam Shaiha of Maafannu Moisha and Principal Ali Nazim drowned during a Fisheries Science field trip to the campsite in Huraa.

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“No new significance” in Sri Lankan money laundering busts, say local police

Sri Lankan police are  investigating a large-scale money laundering case based in Colombo, that reportedly extends to the Maldives.

Local police representatives say no significant case has been filed with Maldivian authorities so far.

According to local media, money was being transferred from the Maldives to various illegal money transfer agents in neighboring Sri Lanka. The money is suspected to be used for such criminal activities as purchasing and distributing narcotics and other contraband.

Last week, Rs. 81.76 million (Rf11.4 million) was seized at Sri Lanka Customs, the largest amount of foreign currency to be detected at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA). Haveeru reports that dollars from Australia, Canada and the US, as well as sterling pounds, Kuwaiti dinars, UAE Dirhams, Saudi Riyals, Swiss Francs and Euros were included in the stash.

Local police reported no case being lodged regarding the money laundering circuit in Colombo, and cautioned that the information that was given to local media regarding the transport of finances from the Maldives might not be reliable.

Officials did say that money laundering has been a problem in the Maldives. Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said that “the issue of money laundering in the Maldives is growing, and credit cards are being abused more.”

An official from the Fraud and Financial Branch said there have been suspicions of money laundering, but charges can not be pressed for that alone. “Individuals have been charged for drug possession, which might be related to money laundering, but we are currently unable to prosecute someone for money laundering alone. We plan to work on that in the future,” he said.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) reports state that money laundering became a bigger concern internationally post-9/11, when it became heavily linked to terrorism. Although many countries have since adopted IMF anti-money laundering (AML) policies, few have developed legislation to enforce these guidelines.

The latest IMF review of Sri Lanka, dated 2008, indicated that AML standards were adopted by signature but that legislation was not in place. A 2011 review of the IMF program found that international organizations were cooperative, but did not indicate that individual governments and banks had adopted AML procedures.

Sri Lankan police have conducted raids on unauthorized money transfer agencies in the past few weeks, reports Haveeru. Earlier this month the Colombo Fraud Bureau, an arm of the Sri Lankan police force, arrested several suspects and seized approximately Rs. 9 million (Rf1.25 million) in foreign currency, Haveeru reports.

Four key Maldivian narcotics peddlers who were busted by Maldivian authorities in June for their involvement in the smuggling of narcotics via Colombo to Male since 2005 had allegedly used a prominent money transfer agency in Colombo, reports Haveeru.

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Drug-testing machines normal, no cases pending, say Police

Delayed caused by broken drug-testing machinery have been resolved, Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam told Minivan News today. Shiyam was responding to allegations that procedures at the Criminal Court had been delayed by malfunctioning machinery.

The Criminal Court could not confirm that there are no more pending cases.

Earlier today, Haveeru reported that drug-testing machines have been malfunctioning since June 14, causing a three-month delay in court procedures.

The report stated that police were unable to submit test reports to drug-related cases since mid-June, and that there was no alternative drug-testing method.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam told Minivan News today that the issue has been generally resolved.

“The machine for drug detection normally works on an on-and-off basis, so this is not completely unusual for us” said Shiyam. “If there are problems, its our responsibility and we will fix it.”

Shiyam added that the police do have other means for detecting and testing illegal drugs, such as a forensics department.

“It is really important to get details and evidence to the court as soon as possible in these drug cases,” he said.

The Criminal Court reportedly learned of the malfunction when it enquired about a delay in drug-test reports. The court said several suspects in drug-related cases have complained about the processing delay, reports Haveeru.

Haveeru reported that the police were unable to verify the alleged drugs confiscated from the high profile drugs smuggling network busted on June 23.

About 1kg of alleged drugs and large amounts of cash were seized from the network.

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Criminal Court orders police to summon former Atolls Minister Abdulla Hameed

The Criminal Court has asked police to summon former Atolls Minister Abdulla Hameed to the Maldives under police custody to face corruption charges.

A court order issued last night requested police to summon 19 defendants whose cases have been stalled because they were out of the country.

Abdulla Hameed, brother of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and long-serving Speaker of Parliament, reportedly resides in Sri Lanka. In 2009, the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) pressed charges against Hameed for abuse of authority for financial gain to a third party.

A press statement by the Criminal Court noted that the order was made for the second time while a meeting was held with police on June 1, 2011 to discuss defendants at large.

The Criminal Court asked police to find Hameed in April 2011 and present him before the court after several hearings of the corruption case had to be cancelled.

Police said at the time that the Immigration Department had been instructed to hold Hameed’s passport should he ever return to the Maldives.

Police spokesperson Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam explained that when the court first requested police to summon Hameed in late 2009 he was not in the Maldives.

“But the court have not yet issued an arrest warrant or requested his arrest via Interpol,” Shiyam said in April. “His whereabouts remain unknown.”

In August 2009, police concluded an investigation into alleged corruption at the Atolls Ministry flagged in an audit report released earlier that year.

At a press conference on August 8, 2009, Chief Inspector Ismail Atheef exhibited numerous quotations, agreements, tender documents, receipts, forged bank statements and cheques implicating Deputy Speaker Ahmed Nazim, Eydhafushi MP Ahmed “Redwave” Saleem and Hameed  in a scam to defraud the ministry through fraudulent transactions.

Police investigations focused on three main points in the ministry’s audit report for 2007 and 2008: the purchase of mosque sound systems for over US$138,000; the purchase of 15,000 national flags for over US$110,000; and the purchase of 220 harbour lights at a cost of over US$151,000 from businesses with close ties to Nazim.

According to Atheef, Eydhafushi MP Ahmed “Redwave” Saleem, who was director of finance at the ministry, actively assisted the scam.

Atheef added that Mohamed Ali, an employee of Namira Engineering, and Abdulla Nashid, Nazim’s brother, further produced and signed bid documents.

Police said Hameed played a key role in the fraud by handing out bids without public announcements, making advance payments using cheques against the state asset and finance regulations, approving bid documents for unregistered companies and discriminatory treatment of bid applicants.

“In these cases, money laundering was involved,” Atheef said at the time. “I wouldn’t say money from these transactions was directly deposited to the accounts of Abdulla Hameed or Ahmed Saleem.

“Transactions take a long period. For example, I deposited five rufiyaa to an account, and from that account withdrew four rufiyaa as cash. Then deposit four rufiyaa to another account, by single denominations. A person who is looking at it from a distance would find it hard to trace.”

Conspiracy to defraud

Deputy Speaker Ahmed Nazim appeared in court last month to answer multiple counts of conspiracy to defraud the former Atolls Ministry. However the Criminal Court barred journalists from observing the trial.

Local daily Haveeru reported today that summons to the next trial date on September 29 was delivered to Nazim last night. The court had reportedly failed to hand over the chit to the People’s Alliance (PA) MP on eight occasions.

In November 2010, following the PGO’s decision to press charges, Hameed’s son and lawyer, Shaheen Hameed, issued a press statement arguing that the case was “politically motivated”.

Shaheen accused the PGO of double standards claiming that “people who confessed to the crime and gave statements to police regarding this case have not been prosecuted to date.”

In an earlier statement put out in October, Shaheen Hameed said his father was “ready to fully answer the charges made against him at trial.”

The prominent lawyer argued in the statement that there was no impediment from carrying out the trial in Hameed’s absence as his legal team was “ready to defend him.”

He added that both the police and PGO denied “repeated requests” for government documents related to the case, which were needed to prepare a defence.

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