Remand of suspect in bank account hacking extended by 25 days

The remand of the suspect accused of stealing a large sum of money by hacking an individual's bank account has been extended.

The suspect has been identified as Nadheef Mohamed, 36, Rankokaage, GA. Gemanafushi.

Nadheef was detained on December 29 last year under a court order, following an investigation into a complaint lodged with the police on September 20. The complainant, a businessman, stated that money had been withdrawn from his bank account after he shared a One-Time Password (OTP) with someone who called while impersonating a customer.

Nadheef has remained in police custody since his arrest. After his earlier remand period expired, the Criminal Court on Thursday approved a 25-day extension of his detention at the request of the police.

In an earlier statement, the Police said Nadheef is suspected of transferring over MVR 29,600 to another person’s account and withdrawing MVR 24,700 in cash through ATMs on multiple occasions. They also noted that more than MVR 4,900 was transferred to a different account and later withdrawn.

The Police further stated that the investigation uncovered Nadheef’s alleged involvement in a scheme where he rented cash cards from various individuals to withdraw illegally obtained funds via ATMs.

The case remains under investigation by the Anti-Scam Centre.