The amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act has come into force giving the Maldives Police Service (MPS) and financial institutions the power to freeze bank accounts of scammers before scammed money can be transferred out.
Police have urged victims to report money lost through scams as quickly as possible.
Maldives has seen a significant rise in scam cases after the Covid-19 pandemic when most financial transactions were digitalised.
MPS has launched several initiatives to combat the rising scam cases including the establishment of an Anti-Scam Centre along with a dedicated hotline.
To assist authorities, the government last year moved an amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act to introduce a comprehensive mechanism aimed at addressing cyber crimes perpetrated through new technologies and computer systems.
The amendment ratified by President Dr Mohamed Muizzu on 17 December last year has come into effect from Monday.
Speaking to PSM News’ ‘Raajje Miadhu’ programme, Inspector of Police and Head of Anti-Scam Center Adam Naweed said the biggest change with the amendment is that the police and financial institutions will have the power to freeze scammed money before it is taken out from the financial system.
The information will be shared with the financial institutions immediately after a scam is reported, he said. According to Naweed, Police now have the power to freeze a suspect’s bank account to prevent money from being transferred out.
He noted that previously separate court orders were required to freeze each account but with the new amendment, multiple accounts can be frozen with a single court order.
"So when a scam is reported to us, the information goes to the financial institutions and the agency can take immediate action. So with this amendment we can stop money from leaving the system. This gives us a great advantage given the seriousness of the scam situation here,” he explained.
According to Naweed, institutions are required to disclose information and financial details of suspects without documentation upon request by Police. The amendment also allows the authorities to freeze funds for 48 hours immediately and extend this period under a court order, he added.