Mohamed Shamaan Waheed, who was recently sacked as Immigration Controller, was arrested by police on Saturday night. The arrest comes as part of an investigation into claims that he and other immigration officers misused their power to extort money from a foreigner.
Police say Shamaan ordered the release of a detained foreign worker and took MVR 530,000 from him. In a statement, they said, “The former Comptroller General of Immigration was arrested tonight under a court order. This is linked to allegations that some Maldives Immigration employees abused their positions and took advantage of foreign workers.”
Earlier on Saturday, Shamaan was called to the police station for questioning. Later that night, he was arrested. According to police, the trouble started when immigration officers, who were not from the right department, searched the foreigner’s home. The next day, the man was freed from custody, and the money was taken from him on Shamaan’s orders.
Police explained that the officers met the foreigner on the street, searched his house, and then took the cash to Shamaan’s home. On Friday night, police raided Shamaan’s house and found a large amount of money—around MVR 500,000 in cash, sources say.
Three other people have also been arrested in this case, including someone who worked in Shamaan’s office at Immigration.
Shamaan lost his job as Immigration Controller on Friday night. The government has now appointed former Police Commissioner Ahmed Faseeh to take his place.
