The Supreme Court has concluded the appeal case regarding the remand of former Controller General of Immigration Mohamed Shamaan Waheed, who is charged with money laundering.

Shamaan appealed to the High Court to annul the Criminal Court's order to detain him until the end of his trial. However, on April 29, the three judges who presided over the case at the High Court unanimously decided that there were no grounds to annul either of the two orders.

When the case was submitted to the Supreme Court on May 5, the Registrar initially decided not to accept the case. However, upon a second request for acceptance, the court decided to hear Shamaan's remand case.

The Supreme Court proceeded with the case on Sunday and concluded hearings on the same day.

During the hearing, Shamaan's legal counsel stated that the police alone cannot conduct an investigation into a corruption case without the involvement of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), which was established and legally empowered to investigate corruption cases. Shamaan's legal counsel also noted that the High Court's decision was contrary to the law.

As this is a corruption case, Shamaan's legal counsel questioned whether the Maldives Police Service (MPS) alone could investigate a corruption case without the ACC. In addition to this, Shamaan's legal counsel stated that the High Court's ruling also showed a violation of Article 76 of the Criminal Procedure Act.

However, the state counsel said that Shamaan's lawyer's claim that the High Court had determined that corruption cases could be investigated by the police institution alone was incorrect. The state counsel emphasized that the police investigated the corruption case in connection with the money laundering offense, and that the police have the jurisdiction to investigate money laundering offenses independently.

In the hearing, which was conducted in two sessions, the state requested that the points raised by Shamaan be declared inadmissible for appeal. If decided otherwise, the state asked to uphold the High Court's decision that police can investigate corruption cases independently.

Concluding the hearing, the bench of judges announced that they were studying the case. They also declared that if no further clarification was needed, the next session would be to deliver the verdict.

However, no date was announced for the next hearing.

Shamaan was remanded until the end of his trial on 6 April 2025.

He was initially arrested under a court order in connection with a case where some employees of the Maldives Immigration were suspected of abusing their official influence to obtain undue benefits from foreign workers. The police institution revealed that he was arrested on March 22, and the Criminal Court initially ordered 15 days of detention on March 23.

Regarding Shamaan's remand until the end of his trial, the police institution revealed that when they brought Shamaan to the Criminal Court to extend his remand period, the court ordered his detention until the end of the trial. This was in connection with the ongoing police investigation into allegations that Immigration employees were obtaining undue benefits from expatriates, contrary to the department's procedures.

Three charges have been filed against Shamaan.

According to the Prosecutor General's Office (PG Office), the charges against Shamaan include abuse of official authority, participation in robbery as well as money laundering. In connection with the case, where an expatriate was allegedly released with MVR 530,000 on Shamaan's orders, MPS also searched Shamaan's residence. A large amount of cash and electronic equipment were confiscated from the house.

The charge sheet notes that Shamaan was aware of the raid conducted by these employees, that there was no official permission for the raid, and that it was carried out in violation of Maldives Immigration procedures.