The Civil Court on Wednesday ordered former Member of Parliament (MP) Alhan Fahmy to pay over MVR 1 million to two investors in a Ponzi scheme led by the former MP. The amount included the money put up by the investors as well as expected profits.
The ruling addresses two cases filed against Kings Capital Holdings; a company in which Alhan Fahmy, along with his brothers Shazban Fahmy and Shahuban Fahmy, is a main shareholder.
In the cases against the Fahmy brothers and Kings Capital, one plaintiff sued for recovery of MVR 258,750 — MVR 50,000 invested in the scheme, MVR 225,000 in profits and MVR 33,750 in litigation costs. Another had sued for MVR 897,000 — MVR 200,000 invested in the scheme, MVR 580,000 in profits and MVR 117,000 in litigation costs.
In both cases, where the verdict was handed down in the presence of the accused, the brothers and Kings Capital were ordered to pay the money before 7 March.
Kings Capital Holdings gained notoriety when the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA), in its role as the top financial regulator, came to know of the scheme to extort money from individuals, claiming to deliver huge profits within a short period of time, through social media platforms. This led to Bank of Maldives (BML) freezing Kings Capital Holdings’ account, in light of the information from MMA, with the police, on 14 March 2023, undertaking a criminal investigation based on several findings by the MMA’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).
However, with the unfreezing of the Kings Company account as the investigation was ongoing, the scheme resumed until it was halted again, by which time many of the earlier investors had still not been given their money, or profits, back.
The Civil Court had earlier, in May and December last year, ordered one victim of the scheme be paid MVR 90,000 and another three be paid more than MVR 700,000.
Former MP Fahmy maintains that he has not done anything in contravention of Maldivian law.