Villa lawyer summoned to Police

Villa Group lawyer Ahmed Shafeeq was summoned to Maldives Police Service (MPS) over the Group’s decision to publicize the names of officers of MPS and Maldives Customs Service (MCS) involved in the raid on Fund Island Resort.

The lawyer was summoned at 4pm on Sunday and was issued fresh summons for Tuesday.

Police, in a statement released last week, condemned the release of names in a statement issued by Villa Group’s attorneys urging the National Integrity Commission (NIC) to review the case submitted against government officials, for acting unlawfully.

Noting that this was done to obstruct the work of law enforcement officers, and intimidate and threaten them, Police said that they investigating the matter as a serious case.

Villa’s attorney and former Prosecutor General Hussain Shameem noted that issues against police and customs officers are to be submitted to the National Integrity Commission, adding that it is their righst as citizens “to report”.

Villa Group has filed complaint against officials of Customs, Police, and Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) that conducted search and seizures in five of its resorts, for ‘unlawfully’ confiscating a large amount of liquor from the resorts.