Man in marriage scam ordered to pay German woman €26,411

The civil court has ordered a Maldivian man to pay back €26,411 he swindled from a German woman after promising to marry her.

The lawsuit, thought to be the second case of its kind in the Maldives, was filed against Hassan Ali of Addu City, with Marion Arndt claiming she had transferred the money on a marriage proposal.

Ali, however, told the court the money was a gift.

Judges ruled Thursday that Ali had not proved his claim, and ordered he pay the full amount in installments over four months. The court said Arndt was not in a relationship where she was obliged to spend on him.

The verdict was issued in Ali’s absentia.

Arndt had first filed the claim against Ali in 2014, but withdrew the case that year.

In a similar verdict, the high court in 2012 ordered a Maldivian man to pay back MVR5.4million he took from a Swiss woman, also after promising to marry her.

The court found that Ibrahim Ali had swindled Ursula Susanna Köpfli, who had alleged that Ibrahim had taken money from her on several occasions in large sums.

She told the court that Ibrahim had told her that he was single, but that she later found out that he was married and had children.

The verdict said that Ibrahim had build a house from the money he had fraudulently collected, which was also built  on the understanding that he would marry Köpfli.