PG to appeal order to release Sealife MD, still considers him a flight risk

The Prosecutor General’s (PG) Office will appeal the Criminal Court’s decision to release Sealife Global’s MD charged with 42 counts of criminal offences, from custody.

Ahmed Moosa Mohamed was arrested in Sri Lanka with Interpol's assistance and extradited back to Maldives on March 24, after two years on the run following housing fraud allegations.

Sealife Global was tasked with developing 3,000 housing units in the capital's suburban district Hulhumale in 2015. The five-year project between the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) and Sealife Global was announced back in 2014. While nearly 300 people had booked to purchase properties from the apartments allocated within the first phase with an initial payment of MVR 50,000 under the condition that it ‘would be refundable at any time’, the complex was never completed. None of the tenants were reimbursed.

Cases against Sealife were filed at the police and the Civil Court, with the presidential commission on corruption and asset recovery launched an investigation into the housing scam in March.

Back on May 31, the PG office charged Mohamed with 42 criminal offences with up to 65 years of imprisonment if convicted.

Criminal Court ordered his released on Thursday, with two stipulations -to remain in Male’ until trial is over and to not leave country- despite the state’s request to keep him in remand for the duration of trial.

Hence, the PG Office said that the verdict will be appealed.

In their request to keep Mohamed in remand, prosecutors said that he could influence witnesses as well as that he is a flight risk and dangerous to community.

However, the defence objected that Mohamed could not leave the country as his passport had expired and that he would not be able to influence anyone as most of the evidence in the case are written evidence.

The state further argued that the Mohamed is influential and powerful enough to flee the country without a passport, and that nine of their witnesses are former employees at Sealife with whom the company’s managing director will have a certain connection.

While Mohamed claimed that he had never attempted to flee and that he “returned” to Maldives to cooperate in the trial, prosecutors argued that the fact the he is a flight risk has already been proven.