PG says to file 225 charges against K-Park Mamdooh

Prosecutor General (PG) Hussain Shameem on Thursday said that 225 charges will be filed against Hassan Mamdooh, the former minority shareholder of Hanbo Maldives company which is developing the K-Park Residence luxury flats in Hulhumale, in the investigation into allegations he sold flats to customers of at low prices and extorted large sums of money from the company's customers.

Speaking at a press conference at the prosecutor general's office on Thursday, Shameem said 41 apartments in K-Park have been sold to 107 people. According to the figures, the same apartments were sold to several people and money was taken, he said.

"There are two people accused in the case. Some of the cases have been completed. We are looking at 225 charges from the completed cases. We are filing separately in each case," Shameem said.

Giving further details of the case, Shameem said four types of charges will ne filed against Mamdooh.

“We are looking at filing charges in this case within the next month,” Shameem said.

He said the decision to prosecute Mamdooh separately in each case was taken because it was a large case involving transactions of a lot of public money. Therefore, the charges in each case will be punished separately, he said.

"We are making separate allegations, so there are a lot of cases. Punishment should also be meted out separately. Otherwise, it's just encouragement to do more while committing a crime. If you can't differentiate a thief, it's like saying, 'Steal it well.' But that is not the way to interpret the law," Shameem said.

As the investigation into the individual cases is completed, there will be the possibility of further charges being filed, he said.

Shameem said there was another accused besides Mamdooh. But no details of the second man were released.

Police raided Mamdooh's apartment at FW Residence in Hulhumale for the second time on November 19. 

Assets suspected to have been bought from illicit funds were seized for the investigation under a warrant issued by the Hulhumale court.

Mamdooh's passport was impounded in June for the investigation, but the Criminal Court released it later, sparking public outrage.

Hulhumale magistrate court subsequently granted a police request for an arrest warrant. He was arrested but has since been released.

A case where he allegedly used Hanbo Maldives to sell flats in the K-Park residences to fraudulently sell the flats at a cheap price emerged in May. The company filed a criminal complaint with the police.