Pilgrims left stranded due to fraudulent tickets leave for Umrah

The 50 Umrah pilgrims under the charge of Askoi Hajj Umrah Group who were left stranded at the airport with fraudulent tickets on November 25 left to Saudi Arabia for pilgrimage this Wednesday.

An official from Askoi Hajj Umrah Group reported to ‘Sun’ that the 50 pilgrims travelled out of Maldives on a SriLankan Airlines flight this Wednesday morning after the company re-purchased tickets for them.

The fraudulent ticket scam was discovered when the pilgrims went to the airport on Sunday night.

Askoi Hajj Umrah Group states it had no prior knowledge the tickets were fraudulent.

Maldives Police Service has arrested one suspect, an employee of DB Travels Private Limited in connection with the case. The authority says its investigation has uncovered evidence the suspect issued 168 fraudulent tickets.

The suspect was arrested from Gan International Airport, attempting to flee the country.