Ruling in corruption case against Shamaan postponed with lawyer overseas

The Criminal Court has cancelled a hearing scheduled for Thursday to issue its ruling in the corruption case against former Controller General of Immigration, Mohamed Shamaan Waheed.

Shamaan has been pressed with serious felonies that would land him behind bars for a long time; an accomplice to theft by extortion – which carries a three-year prison sentence, misuse of authority to obtain a benefit – which carries a one-year prison sentence, and money laundering – a charge that carries a prison sentence of between five to 15 years.

A hearing in the case was scheduled to be held at 01:00 pm Thursday.

A spokesperson from the Criminal Court told Sun that Shamaan had requested to have the hearing cancelled as his lawyer was currently travelling overseas.

The court has therefore postponed the hearing, said the spokesperson.

She confirms that the court had been scheduled to issue its ruling during the hearing.

The court has yet to announce a new date for the ruling.

Shamaan was dismissed from his role as the head of Maldives Immigration on March 20, 2025. In a statement shortly after the news of his dismissal broke, the police said they were investigating a case involving “several employees of Maldives Immigration who misused their authority to gain undue benefits from expatriate workers.”

Investigators raided Shamaan’s residence in Male’ the same night, and seized MVR 257,475, USD 10,000 and cash in other foreign currencies, as well as electronic devices.

He was arrested the next day after he arrived at the Sergeant Adam Haleem Criminal Investigation Building for questioning.

He was initially jailed pending the outcome of his trial, before being granted conditional release on December 25.

Shamaan is accused of extorting money from expatriates, including MVR 500,000 from a Bangladeshi worker. He is accused of pocketing half of it, while paying off his student loan with the rest.

During trial, his parents and wife testified that he had borrowed money from his father to pay off his student loan.

The state also prosecuted four other former Immigration officers in connection to the case, some of him signed plea deals in exchange for lighter sentences.