Three charges, including money laundering, pressed against Shamman

In the case where former Immigration Controller Mohamed Shamman Waheed is accused of taking money from an expatriate in exchange for his release from detention, charges of money laundering, along with two other charges, have been pressed against him.

The Prosecutor General's Office said last night that three separate charges are being raised against Shamman. The first is of being involved in extortion, which carries a prison sentence of three years, two months and two days.

The second charge is of abuse of official position. This carries a prison sentence of one year, seven months and six days.

The third charge is of money laundering, with a prison sentence of between 5 and 15 years, and a fine of up to MVR 1 million.

The prosecution also calls for the MVR 250,000 of the funds Shamman is said to have laundered, which was seized from his residence, to be seized by the State. In addition to this, the State calls for the remaining MVR 150,000 from the total MVR 400,000 Shamman is said to have kept to be seized by the State from the funds seized by the Police from his residence.

The prosecution further appeals for compensation to be taken for the funds taken by Shamman from the expatriate.

Prosecutor General's Office said that these charges are being pressed against Shamman for instructing the release of the expatriate taken into detention by Maldives Immigration's Risk Section and taking the MVR 500,000 that was seized from the expatriate on his detention.

PG Office said that the money was taken from the expatriate after threatening to take further action against him if he failed to leave the country.

The charges against Shamman further state that on the day he took these funds from the expatriate, he had deposited MVR 149,491.46 to Bank of Maldives and MVR 110,345.59 to another loan account to repay two student loans.

Charges have also been pressed against other Immigration officers arrested in relation to this case. As such, Ibrahim Ahmed of G. Happy Side, has four charges raised against him. This includes facilitating money laundering, abuse of official position, exerting undue power over another person's property and extortion.

Mohamed Alsan Ismail of Moonimaage, Th. Buruni, is accused of abuse of official position.

Ahmed Saheshan of G. Happy Side is accused of involvement in extortion and abuse of official position.

Ahmed Lassan, M. Hazaari Villa, is accused of extortion and abuse of official position.