The former Controller General of Immigration, Mohamed Shamaan Waheed, has received a 25-year prison sentence after being convicted on three counts.

The hearing for the verdict was set for 4:00 pm on Tuesday.

The Criminal Court on Tuesday convicted Shamaan of three charges: being an accomplice to extortion theft, abusing authority for personal benefit, and laundering money. The incident pertained to the apprehension of a set of foreign laborers in an unlawful endeavor conducted alongside multiple Immigration officials, during which MVR 530,000 was extracted from one individual.

He refuted all the accusations.

Mohamed Shamaan Waheed reached the Criminal Court on June 9, 2026. (Sun Photo/Mohamed Shathiu Abdulla)

On Tuesday, the Criminal Court declared that Shamaan was guilty on all three counts. He received a 25-year prison sentence, divided as follows:

15 years for laundering money

08 years for blackmail

02 years for misuse of official authority

Shamaan claimed that specific individuals were constructing the case under the directives of Home Minister Ali Ihusaan. He mentioned he was confident he would receive a sentence in the case and thus chose to reveal details about it.

He mentioned that he posted a tweet regarding the matter just prior to addressing the media. In those posts, he claimed that the Maldives' primary entry point, the border control system, was sold to specific individuals by Home Minister Ihusaan. He additionally mentioned that President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu had contacted him directly multiple times as he attempted to halt the action and declined to cooperate.

At the same time, Senior Government Spokesperson Mohamed Hussain Shareef (Mundhu) on Tuesday refuted the statements Shamaan ascribed to President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu. Attorney General Ahmed Usham refuted the claims that were directed at him. Minister Ihusaan has yet to provide any comments on the issue.

Shamaan’s relatives previously claimed that his arrest was due to his plans to reveal corruption cases linked to Minister Ihusaan, and that he had a video pertaining to the issue.