Customs to investigate 145 cases of commercial fraud

Statistics of the Maldives Customs Services have revealed that more than 140 cases of commercial fraud were caught so far this year. All these cases involved attempts to fraudulently import goods into the country.

The statistics were shared with Sun Online by the Maldives Customs Services. The statistics were from the period from 1st January to 26th September this year. While 145 cases of commercial fraud were unearthed, 91 of those cases are still under investigations.

An official from the Customs said that majority of those cases involved where parties tried to use forged and false invoices while importing goods.

27 cases of attempting to import illegal goods to the Maldives have also been recorded. 12 of those cases involved narcotics while there were 9 cases of smuggling. 12 cases of importing advertisements that encouraged substance abuse were recorded, and 4 cases involving pornographic material and 2 cases involving anti-Islamic material were also recorded.

While the Customs have so far seized narcotic substances weighing 2098.0424 grams, the street value of these substances has been estimated at approximately 2.2 million.