Sealife Ammaty escapes lengthy prison sentence as court grants full acquittal

The Criminal Court on Thursday cleared SeaLife Global managing director Ahmed Moosa Mohamed (Ammaty) of the dozens of charges he faced on allegations of defrauding over 200 tenants out of millions in booking fees for a planned apartment complex in suburban Hulhumale’.

Ammaty had been pressed with 42 charges of fraud and embezzlement in connection to the case.

However, the Criminal Court acquitted him of all charges Thursday.

The judge decided that the charges against Ammaty were based on transactions that were civic in nature, and not criminal, and that he should be prosecuted through the civil justice system.

The Prosecutor General’s Office has expressed displeasure at the verdict, insisting that the case fits the criteria for criminal prosecution.

In a statement on Thursday, the PGO said it believes the charges fit the criteria for theft by failure to deliver funds entrusted under Section 215 of the Penal Code. The office said it believes the court failed to properly review the evidence and misinterpreted the legal definition of theft when it decided the case was civic.

The PGO has stated it plans to appeal the verdict with the High Court.

SeaLife announced its 3,000-apartment housing project, the SeaLife Complex in Hulhumale’, back in 2015.

280 tenants paid a booking fee of MVR 50,000 (some more than MVR 50,000). But the SeaLife Complex was never built.

The cumulative total of the booking fees collected by SeaLife is estimated to be upwards of MVR 14 million.

Housing Development Corporation later intervened to reimburse the tenants who submitted documents to the corporation, and they were given priority in the sale of Vinares apartments.

Ammaty, who had an Interpol red notice out for his capture since 2019, was arrested in neighboring Sri Lanka in February, 2021.

He had faced 65 years in prison if the charges were proven against him in court.