Former Bank of Ceylon executive found guilty of defrauding customer of $150,000 via unauthorized transfer

The Criminal Court has sentenced a former executive of the Bank of Ceylon (BOC) to prison and imposed a fine after finding him guilty of the fraudulent transfer of $150,000 from a customer's account.

This case involves an incident from 2019, in which Hassan Waheed, while serving as the bank’s Deputy Country Manager, allegedly forged the signature of a customer named Aminath Shizleen to transfer funds from her account to an account belonging to an individual identified as Abdulla Nafeeq Pasha.

In this case, the state has charged Hassan Waheed with knowingly creating a fraudulent document and exerting unlawful influence over another person's property. In the verdict delivered by Criminal Court Judge Ali Nadeem, it was noted that the evidence proved Waheed personally prepared a transfer form on a computer and forged the customer's signature. Furthermore, the court found it proven that after handing the form to another bank employee to process the transfer, Waheed attempted to conceal the truth once the act was discovered by falsely claiming the incident was a result of the customer's forgetfulness.

Based on the evidence presented in court, forensic analysis of the CPU used by Hassan Waheed and bank CCTV footage showed him printing the form in question. Furthermore, police investigators discovered papers in his cabin where he had practiced forging the customer's signature. During the trial, it was also revealed that the recipient of the funds, Abdulla Nafeeq Pasha, shares a close relationship with Hassan Waheed and is the stepfather of one of his business partners.

As a penalty for the offense, the presiding judge imposed a prison sentence of six months and 18 days, along with a fine of MVR 18,000. While the standard baseline sentence for this crime is one year, seven months, and six days of imprisonment, the court granted a reduction in the sentencing grade due to the significant duration the case remained pending and the fact that Hassan Waheed has already provided restitution to the bank for the losses incurred. According to the verdict, the fine must be settled in full with the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) within the next four months.

Investigations into the case further revealed that Senior International had been depositing MVR 52,500 into Hassan Waheed's account every month since 2018. The court report noted that these payments are believed to be compensation for his involvement in such transactions.

The verdict for this case was delivered on October 8, 2026.