The owner of Mash'ar Group Ali Farish, who was sentenced to jail for three years by the Criminal Court due to fraud and deception charges being proven due to the group's cheque bouncing amidst attempts to pay for the tickets of travelers to Umrah resulting in the money not being paid and the pilgrims' tickets being cancelled, will now be held under house arrest.
The Maldives Correctional Services stated today that Farish has been temporarily moved to serve his sentence under house arrest due to health concerns.
Farish was charged due to him not paying for the return tickets of 48 Umrah travelers via Ace Aviation Service and Ace Travels Maldives after making the booking of said tickets.
The MVR 390,126 cheque given to Ace Aviation Service (for the plane tickets) along with MVR 156,050 cheque bounced upon presenting them to the bank due to Mash'ar Tours' BML account not having sufficient funds.
Farish failed to pay the amounts mentioned when given seven days to do so and was charged with fraud and deception, with an order for him to pay the amount in full.
The court's sentence stated that while Farish pleaded not guilty to the fraud and deception charges, reference to the evidence shows that the charges were proven beyond a reasonable doubt in court, as per Article 51 of the Constitution.
The sentencing included a punishment of jail time of three years, two months and 12 days for the crime. It also stated that a payment of USD 26,350.32 or MVR 406,321 is to be paid within two years to Ace Aviation and Ace Travels regarding the damages caused.
The Islamic Ministry also issued a case against Mash'ar Group to the police regarding travelers to Umrah being stranded in Saudi Arabia.
