Judge says Shamman's remand necessary in expat extortion trial

Former Immigration Controller Mohamed Shamman Waheed remains in custody in connection with a case involving the alleged extortion of foreign workers, Criminal Court Judge Ibrahim Ihsan said on Thursday.

Shamman, who served as the first Immigration Controller under the current administration, has been charged with arresting a group of foreign workers in an unauthorised operation conducted with several immigration officials, and extorting MVR 530,000 from one of them.

Five individuals, including Shamman, have been charged in the case. Each defendant is being tried separately, and witness testimony is also being heard individually. A hearing in Shamman’s case was held on Thursday.

During the session, Shamman raised concern that he was the only defendant currently being held in custody. Judge Ihsan stated that one other accused individual had initially been remanded but was later released on medical grounds after the court received documents confirming that the individual had suffered a stroke. The court suspended the remand order and granted a three-month medical release.

Judge Ihsan noted that Shamman continues to be held as his remand is deemed necessary.

At Thursday’s hearing, both the prosecution and the defence delivered their opening statements outlining how each side intends to present evidence at trial.

The first witness to testify was the owner of the residence where Shamman lived. His testimony focused on how he provided video footage from the house’s security cameras to police.

According to the witness, access to the surveillance footage was available to all residents of the house through a shared username and password. The footage did not display date or time stamps but retained up to one week of recordings before being overwritten. Approximately two hours of footage were copied onto a portable drive after police observed two suspects entering the residence with a bag.

Following the testimony, the judge announced that five more hearings would be held between 7 November and the first week of December to hear the remaining witnesses. The court aims to conclude the trial, including defence testimony, by the end of December.

Shamman has been charged with abuse of official position, participation in robbery, and money laundering. The other defendants face the following charges:

According to the indictment, the Immigration Risk Section had ordered the release of the detained foreign worker and the confiscation of MVR 500,000. The money was taken from the individual after he was allegedly threatened with further action if he did not leave the Maldives.

Prosecutors allege that MVR 400,000 of the amount was handed to Shamman on 13 March 2025, and that he later deposited MVR 149,491.46 into one Bank of Maldives loan account and MVR 110,345.59 into another.