K-Park case: Petition submitted to Parliament over delays in justice

A petition has been submitted to the Parliament over delays in justice for dozens of people who were defrauded in the sale of apartments from K-Park Residences – a condominium under development in Hulhumale’.

The petition submitted under Ibrahim Naseem Riza’s name with the signatures of 50 individuals accuses Housing Development Corporation (HDC) of refusing to take responsibility in the case and failing to take adequate action to resolve the issue.

According to the petition, there have been no developments in the case two years into HDC pledging to conduct internal reviews to resolve issues related to K-Park Residences.

The petition underscored that thousands of families have been directly and indirectly impacted by the case, facing financial, legal and mental difficulties.

On the contrary, the petition emphasized that HDC has been observed assisting in projects that they have a lesser direct responsibility towards, such as Jaah Investment’s ‘The Gardens’.

“K-Park cases are result of HDC’s own wrongdoings. They include issues in disbursing land, lack of regulatory oversight and delaying deadlines irresponsibly,” the petition read.

The petition listed three requests from the Parliament. They are:

• An investigation into delays by HDC in providing a solution for K-Park case
• Holding those responsible in the case accountable
• Protecting the rights of families impacted by the delays in receipt of K-Park flats and facilitating a fair and prompt resolution

The petition was submitted to the Parliament by North Galolhu MP Mohamed Ibrahim (Kudoo).

The petition has been submitted after Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee launched an inquiry into the case.

The fraudulent sale of the K-Park apartments was submitted for police investigation by both Hanbo – the project’s developer – and HDC.

The Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) filed criminal charges against Hassan Mamdhooh (Manday) nd his acquaintance Jaishan Saeed in December last year, with Manday pressed with 104 charges and Jaishan pressed with 98 charges. The charges against them include money laundering, fraud, misappropriation, and providing counterfeit documents to individuals to defraud them.

Manday and Jaishan are accused of doctoring documents by forging the signature of Hanbo’s majority shareholders, and opening an account in the company’s name with the Bank of Maldives (BML) despite the company already having opened its banking account with State Bank of India in order to defraud multiple clients.

The police found that 23 K-Park apartments were sold to over 50 people, with some of the apartments sold to as many as six people.

During the investigation into the case, the police raided an MVR 7.8 million penthouse apartment, which investigators believe was purchased by Manday by selling two apartments from K-Park Residences to four different buyers.

From the penthouse, the police found items worth around MVR 7 million, including 200 unopened perfume bottles, luxury bags, and jewelry.

Manday has categorically denied the allegations against him. He faces 40 years in prison if convicted of the charges.

Although Manday was briefly jailed pending the trial’s end over failure to attend hearings, he has been granted conditional release as of present.

Nine years into K-Park case, individuals who paid for the flats remain hopeless regarding any form of justice.