Jumhoory Party leader and Villa Group owner Gasim Ibrahim has appealed the travel ban imposed on him by the criminal court.
The criminal court on Tuesday imposed a travel ban on Gasim over unpaid rent on an island leased for resort development.
Gasim’s lawyers on Wednesday insisted that it was unnecessarily redundant of the criminal court to impose a travel ban on him when he has been cooperating with the investigation so far.
High Court late last month had ruled against Villa Shipping and Trading Company over the government seizure of Thaa Atoll Elaa island.
The agreement signed between the Tourism Ministry and Villa Shipping and Trading Company owned by Gasim was terminated in February of 2016.
Villa had been asked to pay nearly USD100 million in 30 days after the agreement was annulled which required the company to develop Elaa along with four other islands.
Villa Group's accounts had been frozen after the company failed to pay the government after the designated period.
The company had challenged the government's decision in the civil court, which had ruled that the agreement had been annulled unlawfully.
However the appellate court had overturned the lower court's ruling saying that Villa had failed to honour the agreement signed in December 2013 which justified the seizure.
The court imposed ban would prevent Gasim who is also the Jumhoory Party (JP) leader from leaving the country for a period of one month.
Meanwhile, the government on Wednesday denied any role in pushing the country's inland revenue to impose sanctions on Villa Group over unpaid rent on an island leased for resort development, but insisted that it would not allow anyone to use debt owed to state as 'political leverage'.
