Criminal Court of the Maldives has released Managing Director of SeaLife Global Inc Private Limited Ahmed Moosa from imprisonment. Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) has pressed 42 criminal charges against Moosa, on allegations that he scammed hundreds of people by taking advanced payments for housing units that were never built.
At a review hearing at the Criminal Court, state prosecutors requested that he be kept in jail for the remainder of the trial, arguing that he is a flight risk who might also influence the evidence in the case if he were to be freed. However, his legal representative said the type of evidence in the case are documents and not liable to influence and claimed that he had never fled the authorities and have continued to cooperate in the case.
Also at the hearing, Moosa requested that he be freed due to his poor health, and vowed not to flee during the investigation, claiming that he returned to the Maldives on his own accord. The presiding judge said keeping him in jail would be against the spirit of the constitution and would also place an additional burden on the state. The judge said the case does not require that he be kept in jail, and ordered his release on condition that he stay in Male' City.
SeaLife Global was contracted to develop 3,000 housing units in Hulhumale' in 2016. However, it was later revealed the company was selected without assessing its capacity to conduct a project of such a large scale. Although the apartments had never been built, the company took advanced payments from several prospective flat buyers, of which 203 people later charged the company in court to seek compensation.
After fleeing the country in 2016, Moosa was apprehended in Sri Lanka in February this year. PGO has revealed the criminal charges against Moosa include multiple counts of theft, fraud, and deception and that he faces a prison sentence of up to 65 years if found guilty.