SeaLife MD Ammaty extradited to Maldives

SeaLife Global’s managing director Ahmed Moosa Mohamed (Ammaty) - who was arrested in Sri Lanka in February after two years on the run after defrauding over 200 tenants for a proposed apartment complex in suburban Hulhumale’ out of millions in booking fees – has been extradited to Maldives.

Ammaty (Red House, V. Thinadhoo), who had an Interpol red notice out for his capture since 2019, was arrested in neighboring Sri Lanka last February.

The police said earlier this March that his extradition was getting delayed as the Sri Lankan police had opened an investigation into Ammaty over a separate case.

The nature of the investigation by the Sri Lankan police has not been disclosed.

A police spokesperson confirmed Ammaty was extradited to Maldives earlier this Wednesday.

“Ahmed Moosa Mohamed was transported to Maldives under police custody today. He is currently detained by the police,” said the spokesperson.

He was presented before the Criminal Court for his remand hearing on Wednesday. The court ordered him to be remanded in custody of the police for 10 days.

SeaLife announced its 3,000-apartment housing project, the SeaLife Complex in Hulhumale’, back in 2015.

280 tenants paid a booking fee of MVR 50,000 (some more than MVR 50,000). But the SeaLife Complex was never built and the tenants never reimbursed for their down payments.

The cumulative total of the booking fees collected by SeaLife is estimated to be upwards of MVR 14 million.

The tenants who were cheated of their money filed a class-action lawsuit with the Civil Court against SeaLife Global, Housing Development Corporation (HDC) and Ministry of Economic Development in January 2019.

HDC and Ministry of Economic Development later reached a settlement in July 2019, under which they agreed to pay the tenants MVR 45 million as compensation and give them priority in allocation of housing units under public housing schemes.

SeaLife Global was awarded land in Hulhumale’ to building the apartment complex as compensation for termination of a government contract to build luxury villas in V. Thinadhoo signed during former President Mohamed Nasheed’s administration. The company was awarded land in Hulhumale’ and launched the housing project with approval from the Economic Council of the President’s Office in 2014, during former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom’s administration.