Villa Group is to file complaints against 37 employees of customs, police, and Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) that conducted search and seizures in their resorts.

Hussain Shameem, a member of Villa’s legal team, said they filed the complaints to the police service and National Integrity Commission (NIC) against the government officials for ‘unlawfully’ confiscating a large amount of liquor from the resorts.

Shameem, a former deputy prosecutor general, said filed the complaint at the police service as a case of theft, and filed the complaint at the NIC as an unlawful search conducted by the police, customs, and MIRA.

Noting that the liquor from Fun Island Resort were taken without consent from its owner and without a court order, Shameem said it fit the description of theft according to the penal code.

“We told the police and customs officials [at Fun Island] that what they were doing was illegal, and that it was theft. We warned them we would sue them individually.”

Although customs has said it confiscated the liquor according to procedure, Shameem said the court order for the search did not allow any confiscation of liquor.