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Sea Life loses MVR 12 mln compensation lawsuit against state

Shahudha Mohamed
24 December 2020, MVT 11:54
The apartment complex project that was abandoned by Sea Life Maldives after collecting advance payments from several individuals. PHOTO: MIHAARU FILES
Shahudha Mohamed
24 December 2020, MVT 11:54

Civil Court, on Wednesday, ruled against Sea Life Maldives, on an MVR 12 million lawsuit against the state over nullifying an agreement with the company.

Sea Life is one of the companies implicated in collecting advance payments for a housing project in reclaimed suburb Hulhumale’, but failing to complete the apartments and refusing to repay the individuals who had deposited their advance payments.

The company is now facing several lawsuits from those who had made the advance payment, and Maldives Police Service is investigating the matter as well.

Sea Life had requested Civil Court for MVR 12 million in compensation, as per a 2018 agreement with former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom’s administration.

However, the Civil Court ruled that the amount of funds spent by Sea Life at the time of signing the agreement was now questionable, and therefore, the company’s claim does not hold up in a court of law.

As per the lower court, the Presidential Commission on Corruption and Asset Recovery had concluded that the amount of funds which Sea Life claims to have spent are documented incorrectly, which would consequentially nullify the agreement signed with the state in 2018.

Referring to a verdict delivered by the High Court in 2016, Civil Court stated that agreements signed based on false information can be declared void by the party that was deceived.

The state had reimbursed MVR 45 million for the individuals who got scammed by Sea Life, after they collected booking fees to develop 3,000 flats and abandoned the project.

Under a settlement agreement, the state has provided out-of-court solutions to a total of 203 individuals who filed lawsuits against Sea Life, including repayment through Housing Development Corporation (HDC) as well as granting the opportunity to purchase flats from other housing projects underway at Hulhumale’.

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