The Criminal Court has sentenced Ali Naseem for extorting around MVR 2 million from five people by falsely claiming to rent out apartments.

Ali Naseem was convicted of embezzlement in multiple cases involving different properties in Malé and other islands. In one case, he took advance payments for several apartments, including properties in H. Crystal Land, M. Fahi Roalhi, MA. Gumreege, and G. Irama, but failed to honor the agreements.

During the investigation, two cheques worth MVR 814,000 and MVR 240,000 were issued from an account in Ali Naseem’s name. However, the bank reported that the account had been stopped after Ali Naseem claimed his cheque book was missing.

Ali Naseem entered into plea agreements with the Prosecutor General’s Office in all cases. In the main case, he was sentenced to a total of nine months and 18 days in prison, fined MVR 33,600, and ordered to pay the fine to the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) within six months. He was also ordered to pay MVR 1,027,000 in compensation to victims within 12 months.

In other related cases involving apartments, Ali Naseem received additional prison sentences ranging from two months to four months and 24 days, some of which were converted to house arrest. He was also fined amounts between MVR 5,200 and MVR 8,400 and ordered to pay compensation to the victims, including MVR 183,500, MVR 35,000, and MVR 300,000, within specified timeframes.

All fines were ordered to be paid to MIRA within three months, as per the court’s rulings.