Thursday
17th Sep 2026
Dhivehi Edition
Maldives Police Service
Six Foreign Nationals Arrested Over Alleged Illegal Foreign Currency Trading
Photo: Police
Six foreign nationals have been detained in connection with alleged unauthorised foreign currency trading in the Maldives, according to the Maldives Police Service.
In a statement issued tonight, police said the arrests were made during operations conducted jointly by the police and Maldives Immigration as part of investigations being carried out by a task force established to identify individuals involved in the unauthorised buying and selling of foreign currency and facilitate legal action against them.
Police said the six foreign nationals were brought under the supervision of Maldives Immigration and detained during the operations.
According to information gathered during the investigation, accounts linked to the individuals recorded transactions totalling MVR 54,429,550 and USD 1,627,810 over the past three years.
Police further said the individuals had been involved in foreign currency trading outside the scope of their authorised employment activities.
The task force's analysis of information collected so far also found that some bank accounts opened in the names of Maldivian individuals, as well as businesses registered under individuals' names, had allegedly been obtained and used by foreign nationals to conduct unauthorised activities and facilitate foreign currency transactions.
Police warned that allowing a bank account opened in one's name to be used by another party for illegal activities could result in legal action against the account holder as an accomplice to an offence.
The police urged the public not to allow their bank accounts to be used for illegal activities and said authorities would continue efforts to identify those involved and take legal action against them.