The state has raised 42 charges against Managing Director of Sea Life Global, Ahmed ‘Ammaty’ Moosa.
Ammaty was arrested earlier in February in neighboring Sri Lanka while he was on the run for over two years after defrauding a large number of people out of millions by stealing the booking fees paid for a proposed apartment complex in Hulhumale. A red notice to locate Ammaty was issued in 2019 by Interpol after he went on the run. He was extradited to the Maldives in March following his arrest.
The Prosecutor General's Office said cases against Ammaty were filed at the Criminal Court on May 30. If he is found guilty, he will face a 65-year jail sentence.
Sea Life Global Private Limited announced and advertised luxury apartments in reclaimed suburbs Hulhumale’, and took booking payments from interested buyers in 2013. In the initial phase of the project, Sea Life Global had taken a booking fee of MVR 50,000 from 280 interested buyers, for the projected 300 apartments in the building. This adds up to approximately MVR 14 million.
However, the apartment building was never constructed, and refunds were not issued to the buyers. Complaints were filed with the police and the Anti-Corruption Commission seeking refunds and on suspicions that illicit activities were conducted during the implementation of the project. Cases were filed against Sea Life Global, Housing Development Corporation (HDC) and the Economic Ministry at the Civil court over the Sea Life Global Complex, due to failure to return the booking fees taken from the buyers.
