American arrested from Hulhumale' to be deported

Maldives Immigration reports the four undocumented foreigners arrested in its operation in Hulhumale’ on January 16 are to be deported.

Maldives Immigration in its operation in Hulhumale’ on January 16 checked 10 foreigners for papers, and arrested four people among them who did not have proper documentation - including the American guesthouse owner John Seyfert.

John Seyfert, 76, moved to Maldives a couple of years back, and is an investor of the guesthouse “Le Vieux Nice Inn” in Hulhumale’ which he helped set up with his Maldivian business partners.

Spokesperson for Maldives immigration, Hassan Khaleel reported to “Sun” this Thursday and said that the authority would not be making a comment regarding specific individuals, but that it had been decided the four foreigners arrested from Hulhumale’ on January 16 will be deported.

“Some among the four people arrested haven’t renewed their visa since 2014,” said Khaleel.

Following the arrest of Seyfert, the US embassy in Colombo, Sri Lanka issued a statement saying the biggest priority of US State Department was ensuring the safety of its citizens. But that it cannot share any further information in order to protect his privacy.

Seyfert is active on social media and has close relationships with Maldivians.

In his Facebook and Twitter posts, he speaks about a group of Maldivians who conned his out of his money and stole his passport under the pretense they were interested in running a guesthouse with him.

He also says the matter of his stolen passport has been reported to the police.

Police has confirmed that Seyfert filed a complaint over his stolen in 2014. And said that the case was investigated, and he was given a letter by police stating that his passport was stolen.