Singapore lifts travel ban on Siyam after 3-month payment commitment
A subsequent hearing was held Friday morning where the court revoked its committal order after Siyam agreed to pay the dues.
A Singaporean court on Friday revoked a travel ban on Maldives Development Alliance (MDA) president Ahmed Siyam Mohamed after he agreed to pay within three months the $24 million (MVR 370.8 million) in dues to Hilton International Management under a Singapore arbitration ruling that awarded damage claims to Hilton against Sun Travels for cancelling a contract for the management of N. Irufushi resort.
Siyam had travelled to Singapore three days ago in response to a summons sent to him to appear before the Singaporean High Court on Monday after his company failed to pay $24 million to Hilton in accordance with a ruling by the country's arbitral tribunal.
The court had on Monday issued a committal order against Siyam over the dues, barring him from leaving Singapore.
A reliable source confirmed to Atoll Times that a subsequent hearing was held Friday morning where the court revoked its committal order after Siyam agreed to pay the dues. The court gave three months to settle the dues, it is learnt.
Siyam is scheduled to arrive in the Maldives Friday evening, his party said in a statement. He will address reporters at the airport, it added.
Sun Travels, owned by prominent businessman and Meedhoo MP Ahmed Siyam Mohamed, terminated the Irufushi deal on April 30, 2013, on the grounds that Hilton had breached the agreement. When the case of cancellation of the agreement was referred to arbitration in Singapore:
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On August 17, 2015, the arbitrator issued a final award; Sun Travels was asked to pay USD 20.9 million in fines and additional costs
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When the division dealing with major cases related to property handed over the implementation of the award to the Civil Court, the court held that there was no jurisdiction
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When the award case was referred to the Civil Court's sentencing division for the second time, it was decided that the verdict could be executed only after the High Court decides on the award
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When the High Court was appealed with, the court set aside the Civil Court's ruling and declared that the "concerned court" as defined in the Arbitration Act was the Civil Court
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When the award case came up in the civil court for the third time, the court ordered all accounts of Sun Travels be frozen
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Challenging the civil court's orders, the High Court held that since the acceptance and implementation of arbitral awards are two stages, the two stages should be allowed separately.
More than seven years after this case was pending in various courts, the Civil Court on February 25 decided to accept Singapore's arbitration award and ordered the company to deduct the amount paid so far and pay the remaining amount, penalty and additional expenses within 14 days.
