PNC parliament members say though they support the opposition MDP's proposed amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act to give police powers to prevent scams, the issue would truly be resolved by amending the Banking Act.
The MP for Galolhu North Constituency Mohamed Ibrahim moved to add section 72 of the Criminal Procedure Code that, if fraud or scam shows that account funds are being fraudulently withdrawn, the funds in the account as well as the account transferred for the crime may be requested to be withheld for some time.
Similarly, the police should be able to issue an order to seize the funds in the account or the funds in the transferred account within the period fixed to decide on the motion filed with the court during the period for seeking a court order.
Moving the amendment, Mohamed said, that as the Criminal Procedure Code currently stands, it is possible to apply for a court order to freeze funds in the accounts of accused and implicated persons but not the funds in the accounts of third parties used to commit crimes.
Debating the amendment in the House today, Maafannu North MP Abdullah Rifau said he supported the amendment as a principle, but there was a possibility of taking illegal advantage of the amendment.
He said according to the proposed amendment, if an account involved in a scam is frozen, there is a possibility of harm to unauthorized parties.
MP for Hithadhoo Central Constituency Ahmed Azaan said that the scams in the Maldives involve fraudulently obtaining money deposited in a person's account and transferring it to one account and transferring the money to several accounts within a few moments.
He said the amendment does not provide a complete solution.
MPs Gasim Ibrahim (Maamigili Constituency), and Husnee Mubarak (Manadhoo Constituency) supported MP Azaan's remarks in the Parliament.
The Amendment has now been accepted for further deliberation at the Parliament.
