Sheesha owners file lawsuit against SBI

The three brothers who own Sheesha, the largest dealer in motor cycles in the Maldives, have filed a lawsuit with the Civil Court today, against the State Bank of India (SBI) after the Bank allegedly failed to take responsibility for theft of 18 million Rufiyaa with two forged cheques.

Speaking to the press today at a meeting held at Nasandhura Palace Hotel, the three brothers said that the money from their SBI account was transferred to an account in the Bank of Maldives, in the name of two persons.

The personal saving account in question with the SBI is in the name of the three brothers, Ahmed Hassan Manik, Ibrahim Husham and Hussein Husham.

the money were transferred with two cheques, one cleared on the 9th of this month and amounting to 8.5 million, and the other cleared on the 20th and amounting to 9.5 million. Both times, the cheques were issued in the name of Ahmed Hassan Manik and bore the forged signature of Hussain Husham.

The cheques were, according to the brothers, sent to the bank via fax.

The lawyer of the three brothers, who participated in the press meeting with them, said that SBI was negligent in allowing transfer of such a huge amount of money for a cheque presented through fax.

“The faxed cheque had Ahmed Hussein Manik’s name but Hussain Husham’s signature. Transferring such a huge amount of money for such a weak and doubtful document is negligence, and even the Bank now recognizes that the signature on the faxed document was forged from a scan of the original”, said lawyer Ibrahim Nasir Muhammad.

Ahmed Hassan Manik said that the fax reading itself had a different name and number than theirs, and that the Bank had negligently failed to recognize that error too.

The brothers said that they came to know about the theft last Sunday when they took a Bank Statement for the account. They said that they talked with the Bank about the matter and that the Bank did not express any wish to take responsibility, and that this prompted them to take immediate legal action.

According to reports, the Police arrested two persons in connection with this incident, although one of them was released as there was no warrant for his arrest, and procedural rules, therefore, obliged his release within 24 hours. The police later obtained a warrant for arresting the man, although he reportedly left the country by then.

Police Media Official Ahmed Shiyam said that the incident is being investigated and that no further information would be revealed untill the investigations are over.