Lassan sentenced to 9 months under plea deal
The case is linked to an investigation in which former Immigration Controller Mohamed Shamman Waheed was dismissed from office and arrested on 22 March.
Immigration officer Ahmed Lassan has been sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to charges related to the exploitation of foreign nationals, the Prosecutor General’s Office said on Thursday.
The case is linked to an investigation in which former Immigration Controller Mohamed Shamman Waheed was dismissed from office and arrested on 22 March. Four other immigration officers, including Lassan, were also arrested in connection with the case.
The prosecution said the offences arose from an illegal operation carried out by immigration officers, during which a group of foreign workers was detained and MVR 530,000 was extorted from one individual.
According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, Lassan pleaded guilty to two charges and was sentenced as follows:
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Robbery: seven months and six days’ imprisonment and a fine of MVR 14,400
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Misuse of official status: two months and 12 days’ imprisonment and a fine of MVR 14,400
The sentences amount to a total of nine months’ imprisonment. Lassan was sentenced under a plea agreement with the state and is currently serving his sentence.
Lassan also appeared before the Criminal Court on Thursday as a prosecution witness in the case against Shamman. In his testimony, he said a Bangladeshi national was taken to his residence after being released from detention.
He told the court that following the foreigner’s release, immigration officer Ibrahim Ahmed brought a white bag and instructed him to deliver it to Shamman. Lassan testified that Ibrahim Ahmed opened the bag in the lift of the building where Shamman lived and that it contained a large amount of money.
According to Lassan, Shamman accepted the bag at his apartment door, removed two bundles of cash, and handed them back to Ibrahim Ahmed. Lassan said he did not know the total amount of money in the bag.
Another accused, Mohamed Alsan Ismail of Moonimage, Th. Buruni, also pleaded guilty to the charges. Under his plea agreement, he was sentenced to two months and three days’ imprisonment, with the remainder of the sentence commuted to a fine of MVR 45,000 to be paid within one year.
Alsan has already spent two months and three days in custody, and no additional custodial sentence was imposed beyond that period.
