Police identifying possible culprits in ‘financial coup’ probe

The police said on Wednesday that they are working on identifying the possible culprits in the alleged ‘financial coup’ the opposition is accused of plotting using the decision by the national bank to suspend foreign transactions from Rufiyaa cards – a decision that the bank later rescinded.

The police opened a criminal investigation on Monday, a day after the Bank of Maldives (BML) made the controversial move, citing there’s room to believe the opposition had attempted to topple President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s administration by stoking up fears of a financial crisis and inciting people to take to the streets.

In a statement on Wednesday afternoon, the police said they are working on “collecting all necessary information and conducting a detailed review of everything that needs looking into” in their investigation.

“We are also identifying the people who possibly need to be taken action against and all other works pertaining to the investigation,” said the police.

On Sunday morning, the BML suspended foreign transactions for existing debit cards, as well as new debit and credit cards linked to MVR accounts. It also lowered the monthly limit for standard and gold credit cards to USD 100.

But it reversed the decision within hours, a move it said was based on instructions from its regulator, the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA).

The sudden decision to change card limits for foreign transactions had created massive public backlash, especially from Maldivian students based overseas and small businesses that sell imported goods.

The situation quickly turned political, with people taking to social media to call for a government change and with government officials accusing the opposition of orchestrating the move to topple President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s administration.

The next day, the police said it found the timing the bank’s announcement suspicious.

“This decision by a government-controlled bank, which went against the government’s counsel and that left many Maldivian citizens stunned, coincided with a press conference by a political entity regarding the state of the country’s finances,” said the police, referring to a press briefing by the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) which took place on Sunday morning.

It added that hundreds of ‘bot’ accounts on social media were used to attempt to incite people into taking to the streets to cause civil unrest and topple the government.

“There is room to believe it was an illegal attempt to overthrow the legitimate government,” said the police.

Top government officials, including President Muizzu himself, labeled it an attempt to stage a “financial coup.”

However, the MDP has rejected the allegations as “absurd”, and demanded that the Commissioner of Police Ali Shujau resign from his post in order to restore the credibility of the police.