Police arrest counterfeiters, confiscate Rf 1.5 million in fake US dollar bills
| DATE: 2008-04-30 | PRINT |
At a news conference held at the Police Station the Head of the Commercial Crime Unit, Inspector Ismail Atheef said the fake bills, amounting to Rf 1.5 million had been confiscated in two separate occasions; on the 17th of this month and last Saturday. He said that during a special operation launched by the Police around one and a half months ago they had found 22 fake $100 bills on the first raid and 1200 fake $100 bills the second time.
The three men who had been arrested in connection to the crime are Mohamed Ahulam, 28, of Asdhoo in Haa Alifu atoll Kelaa; Hassan Ibrahim, 42, of Red Coral in Haa Dhaalu atoll Kulhudhuffushi; and Mohamed Solah, 32.
Athif said that the fake bills found on the three men were not very good copies and highlighted the fact that the bills did not even have a watermark.
When asked whether the fake bills had been produced in Maldives or abroad and whether a foreign party had a part in the whole business Athif said that he was not at liberty to reveal such details at the moment. He said however that with the exception of Ahulam, none of the others had previous criminal records. Athif did not reveal the details of the Ahulam’s criminal background but said that he was involved in drug dealing.
Athif also said that even though the investigation was ongoing they had no reports that counterfeit dollar bills were in circulation in Male’ and they were not looking for anyone else in connection to the crime. Since the investigation was still ongoing, Athif said he could not comment on whether the three men had used the counterfeit bills to buy anything.
He said that if anyone had any suspicions about the validity of the dollar bills they should take it to MMA. He also advised the public not to change dollars except from authorized money changers.
| DATE: 2008-04-30 | PRINT |
From L-R: Mohamed Solah, Mohamed Ahulam and Hassan Ibrahim.
At a news conference held at the Police Station the Head of the Commercial Crime Unit, Inspector Ismail Atheef said the fake bills, amounting to Rf 1.5 million had been confiscated in two separate occasions; on the 17th of this month and last Saturday. He said that during a special operation launched by the Police around one and a half months ago they had found 22 fake $100 bills on the first raid and 1200 fake $100 bills the second time.
The three men who had been arrested in connection to the crime are Mohamed Ahulam, 28, of Asdhoo in Haa Alifu atoll Kelaa; Hassan Ibrahim, 42, of Red Coral in Haa Dhaalu atoll Kulhudhuffushi; and Mohamed Solah, 32.
Athif said that the fake bills found on the three men were not very good copies and highlighted the fact that the bills did not even have a watermark.
When asked whether the fake bills had been produced in Maldives or abroad and whether a foreign party had a part in the whole business Athif said that he was not at liberty to reveal such details at the moment. He said however that with the exception of Ahulam, none of the others had previous criminal records. Athif did not reveal the details of the Ahulam’s criminal background but said that he was involved in drug dealing.
Athif also said that even though the investigation was ongoing they had no reports that counterfeit dollar bills were in circulation in Male’ and they were not looking for anyone else in connection to the crime. Since the investigation was still ongoing, Athif said he could not comment on whether the three men had used the counterfeit bills to buy anything.
He said that if anyone had any suspicions about the validity of the dollar bills they should take it to MMA. He also advised the public not to change dollars except from authorized money changers.
