Police: All decisions in Shamaan case were evidence-based; couldn’t check phone because he refused to provide lock code

The police stated on Thursday that all decisions pertaining to the corruption case against former Controller General of Immigration Mohamed Shamaan Waheed were made based on evidence uncovered during the course of the investigation.

The Criminal Court on Tuesday found Shamaan guilty of charges of accomplice to theft by extortion, misuse of authority for personal gain and money laundering. He was sentenced to a total of 25 years in prison.

The case against him was based on the allegation that Immigration officers extorted MVR 530,000 from a Bangladeshi worker who was detained during a crackdown on illegal migration in Male’.

Speaking to reporters outside the court before heading in for his sentencing hearing, Shamaan repeated his assertion that the case against him was a frame job carried out on direct orders from Home Minister Ali Ihusan after he reported his alleged corruption to President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu.

He accused Ihusan of charging MVR 8,000 per quota, and USD 1,800 for work permits, and of “selling” a contract to develop a new border control system.

He claimed to have evidence of this in his phone, which was confiscated by the police.

In a post on X on Wednesday, Ihusan denied the allegations against him, and said he had asked the police to share details clarify the case to the public.

In a statement on Thursday afternoon, the police denied allegations by Shamaan that the co-defendants in the case were given sweetheart deals in exchange for changing their original statement in order to convict him.

The police also denied any political influence into any of the investigative decisions in the case.

“All investigative decisions were made based on evidence uncovered during the investigation, and were decisions this institution made independently based on relevant laws and policies,” added the police.

#MPSPressStatement: 171-A(C1)/PS/2026/05 - Maldives Immigration ge kureege Controller General media thakaa badhdhalukoh koffaivaa thuhumathuthakaa gulhey https://t.co/Jz4n9iWf97 pic.twitter.com/eTn8E6GDmG

— Maldives Police (@PoliceMv) June 11, 2026

The police said that Shamaan had refused to provide the lock code to his phone throughout the investigation and the trial.

“Therefore, we did not get the chance to check and investigate the information on the phone,” said the police.

Police said that though Shamaan later told reporters that the phone contained evidence of corruption, he never shared any such information with the police, either during the investigation or after he was released from detention.

“And neither are the police aware if any such information has been shared with any other institution with the legal mandate to investigate corruption cases,” said the police.

The police insisted that all its investigations were free from any influence or bias, and in line with legal procedure.

“We provide assurance that we will review and investigate, within the bounds of law, any allegation of a crime presented sufficient evidence or information by any individual,” said the police.

Shamaan had accused not just Ihusan, but also Attorney General Ahmed Usham of complicity in the alleged corruption in the award of a contract to develop a new border control system.

He said that he had received multiple calls from President Muizzu due to his objection to the, and therefore finds the President himself complicit in the alleged corruption.

“When he last called me regarding this, he said that “this will not change to any other way” and got angry and threatened me,” he said.

The allegations of corruption have been denied by the chief government spokesperson Hussain Mohamed Hussain Shareef (Mundhu), Ihusan and Usham as “baseless”.