16 charges proven against Shifau

The Criminal Court has said that 16 charges have been proven against Hussain Shifau regarding the case of conducting business with invalid Telegraphic Transfers (TT) sent to overseas companies.

The Prosecution set 23 charges upon Shifau with a life sentence to be given to him in the case of conducting business with overseas companies with invalid TT's. 16 of those charges have been proven, as was decided by the Criminal Court today.

Nine counts of providing invalid documents while being privy to the knowledge were proven against him, along with seven counts of fraud. Shifau was charged with seven counts of money laundering with the sentence to still be announced, said the presiding judge.

The court has put the task of deciding the punishment for the proven 16 charges on their agenda for next week. A jail sentence has also been ordered until the punishment is determined.

The Prosecutor General's Office has stated in the past that a prison sentence of 38 years for the 23 charges will befall Shifau, along with USD 123,844.54 (MVR 1.9 million) within these cases.

The Prosecution made a plea agreement with Shifau at the end of the trial before the summary judgment was given. However, Judge Ali Nadheem decided to not acknowledge the agreement.

Via self-owned company "Kingdom of Fruits", Shifau sent fraudulent transactions to overseas companies in 2023 and was detained that year, with him fleeing Maldives after he was released from the court. A Red Notice was put out via Interpol, with Shifau coming back to Maldives of his own will, subsequently being arrested and released after his passport was confiscated.

While his case was in court, he was appointed as the Senior Political Director at the Ministry of Agriculture and Welfare. However, he was dismissed from the position once the media had publicized his case.