The civil court on Sunday declined to issue an order to seize the property of the directors of King's Capital, a company of former Feydhoo MP Alhan Fahmy that carried out online trading with funds from several investors.
After failing to earn any profits, a man named Ismail Anees sued King's Capital to recover money invested under an agreement with the company to become an online copy trader. On May 15, the civil court ordered King's Capital to pay the outstanding MVR 90,000 owed from his investment within a week.
But as the company did not make the payment within the period in the judgment, Anees asked the civil court for an order to seize the property of King's directors. The lawsuit sought to seize the assets of the company and its directors and to freeze their bank accounts.
Reasons for seeking the court order:
- The failure of King's Capital to appear in court
- The failure to make the payment within the period provided by the court and the refusal to abide by the judgment
- The possibility that the company could try to hide the assets of shareholders or try to show that it has no property
Civil court judge Hassan Fahmy Ibrahim decided that the first two reasons did not justify issuing such a court order. But the arguments could be considered in the lawsuit filed by Anees for enforcement of the judgment.
While a separate lawsuit for enforcement has also been filed on behalf of Anees, it also asked the court to hold the company's directors liable for the unpaid amount and to issue an order to take their money and assets under the court's control and to sell them to settle the debt.
The judgment on Sunday further noted the lack of evidence to show that the company could try to hide the assets of shareholders or try to prove that it has no property.
The judge ruled that there was no reason to issue an order for the seizure of property.
Anees also submitted to court a tweet from Alhan Fahmy that shared a news article about the judgment in the case. Alhan said in the tweet that he would not object to any lawsuit from a King's investor. The money has not been paid because funds are unavailable but it will be paid as soon as possible, Alhan said.
King's Capital did not appear in court over the second lawsuit either. The judgment was therefore delivered in absentia.
The police launched a criminal investigation against the shareholders of King's Capital over alleged fraud, scam and money laundering as the company carried out online trading with funds from several investors.
Alhan and King's Capital are accused of introducing an investment scheme in violation of the country's financial securities law and fraudulently collecting and laundering a large sum of money.
The Bank of Maldives (BML) previously froze the company's bank accounts over the alleged scam. But when King's Capital sued the bank, the civil court ruled that freezing bank accounts without a court order was illegal.
