Civil Court orders to halt all Sh. Kanbaalifaru-related transactions

The Civil Court has issued an interim order to stop all transactions related to Kanbaalifaru Island of Shaviyani Atoll, leased for resort development.

The Maldivian Civil Court on Thursday issued the interim order following a business dispute between Franchin Giuseppe and the current owner of Kanbaalifaru Resort, Sarangu Adam Manik.

An agreement was signed between Ali Shareef from M.A. Anaavilla and the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation on 31 August 2006. Afterwards, Ali Shareef sold all his rights of the island under the agreement to Giuseppe and gave him the power of attorney.

However, as Giuseppe was not able to stay in Maldives, with the power he was granted with the power of attorney, he appointed Adam Manik and gave the power of attorney to Adam Manik.

Adam Manik created a company in the name of Kanbaalifaru Development Pvt, under his own with his stake, without the knowledge of Giuseppe. Hence, Giuseppe filed a lawsuit to order the recovery of Kanbaalifaru from Adam Manik and compensation for the damage and expanses he lost due to Adam Manik's actions.

The Civil Court sought an interim order on the grounds that it might cause irreparable damage to the island if the defendant were to alter or bring any changes to the islands and to prevent the ownership of the resort being transferred to another person before the case is resolved.

The court ordered the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Economic Development to temporarily suspend the transactions related to the island.

The order states that even though the that the interim order is sought against Adam Manik and the Ministries, as Kanbaalifaru Developments Pvt Ltd is a separate legal entity from Adam Manik, the order cannot be issued against Adam Manik. However, the ministries can be ordered to stop the transfer of ownership of Kanbaalifaru.

Noting that the interim order sought to be issued by Giuseppe seeks to restrain the alteration of the structure of Kanbaalifaru, the Civil Court stated that there is no room for an order on this part of the interim order, as this is a financially assessable damages which can be compensated.

However, noting that if the ownership of Kanbaalifaru is transferred to a third party, it will be considered an irreparable loss, the Civil Court stated that an interim order will be issued to prevent the transfer of ownership as requested by Giuseppe.

Kanbaalifaru is currently being used as collateral for a loan Adam Manik obtained from the State Bank of India (SBI).