Man sentenced to 2 years in jail for apartment rental scam

The Criminal Court of Maldives has sentenced a man to two years in jail for defrauding and scamming 13 separate people in a rental scam case.

Mohamed Moosa from G. Greenbeans was convicted last after he was found guilty of running an apartment rental fraud scheme that roped in 13 people who had thought that they had secured an apartment on the third floor of G. Greenbeans.

Moosa had scammed large amounts of money ranging from MVR 1000 to MVR 100,000 from his victims under the pretext of renting the apartment. The total amount of money reaped from the scam ranged around MVR 237,000. 

The court heard that Moosa collected money from his victims after signing agreements with them. He took around MVR 10,000-15,000 as advance payments from his victims and also acquired MVR 100,000 from one victim under the pretext of renting the apartment for five years.

Moosa’s defense attorney stated in court that her client denied the charges and argued that the case was a civil case and not a criminal one. She also pointed out that compensation had been paid for the victims of the scandal.

However, Judge Ali Rasheed found Moosa guilty of the charges, based on the evidence presented by the state, documents and witness statements and sentenced him to two years, nine months and 18 days in prison. The verdict also read that Moosa’s victims were free to pursue a civil case against the defendant if they wished so.