Immigration CG sacked, accused of illicit profiteering

The Controller General of Immigration, Mohamed Shamman Waheed on Thursday evening has been terminated from his role.

Shamman has been accused to have abused his role as the Immigration CG to gain unscrupulous advantages from migrants. ‘Sun’ Online confirmed his termination on Thursday evening.

While Shamman has been sacked, Maldives Police Service have begun investigating a case involving multiple Maldives Immigration officers who have been accused of graft and misappropriation of money from expatriates.

The law enforcement authority on Thursday evening inspected a Male’ residence as part of the case and took three individuals under custody. ‘Sun’ has learned the now terminated CG is also facing allegations in the case, with a probe launched against him as well.

Shamman was appointed as the Controller General of Immigration on November 19, 2023, two days after President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu formally took oath of office.

Prior to his appointment to lead the authority, Shamman had served at Immigration for an extended period. However, during the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)-led former government, Shamman he had been terminated from his then role at the authority following which he contested the decision at the Employment Tribunal.

Shamman’s stringent action against irregular immigrants over the past one and half years had borne positive results and public praise as well.

Under his leadership, Maldives Immigration had collected data of over 100,000 expatriates as part of the Ministry of Homeland Security and Technology’s ‘Operation Kurangi’.

Besides this, Maldives Immigration amped up its operations against irregular expatriates, and migrants operating or engaging in commercial activities illegally – all of which had resulted in massive deportations, and subsequent public adoration.