K-Park: Manday accuses Hanbo Maldives of running scam

Lawyers for Hassan Mamdhooh (Manday) – who is accused of fraud in the sale of apartments from K-Park Residences – a condominium under development in Hulhumale’ – allege that it is not their client but Hanbo Maldives that is running the scam, also accusing government institutions of aiding the company.

In a statement on Wednesday, the lawyers said the project was awarded to Manday and Hanbo Company Limited (Hanbo Tech). They said that Hanbo Maldives – controlled by Chinese citizen Jinshu Hu – was a local company established to handle the logistics.

Manday’s lawyers accused Hanbo Maldives of making decisions without the backing of the board of Hanbo Tech, and undermining the credibility of the Maldivian construction industry.

They made serious allegation against Hu.

Manday’s lawyers said that the project had been running smoothly until the Covid-19 pandemic, at which point disagreements arose between Manday and Hu, after which Hu went to Hanbo Tech’s office, assaulted Manday, and stole documents at the office.

The lawyers said the police refused to register the case Manday filed over the incident, and launched an investigation against Manday, instead.

The lawyers also claimed that Hu had unilaterally made the decision to get the shares Manday held at Hanbo Maldives by holding a board meeting that only he himself attended, in violation of the Companies Act.

They also alleged government influence in the Economic Ministry’s decision to accept the decision.

The lawyers said that the Economic Ministry was being represented by the Attorney General in the lawsuit filed by Manday against the ministry, and that there were attorneys from the Attorney General’s Office working for Law Craft, the law firm representing Hanbo Maldives.

This shows the extent of government influence in the case, said the lawyers.

In a statement earlier this month, Hanbo Maldives said Manday was believed to have defrauded over 100 people, and asked authorities to expedite charges against him.

Hanbo added that Manday was no longer a member of the company’s Board, and warned people against communicating with him regarding anything related to the company.

The fraudulent sale of the apartments developed under the project was submitted for police investigation by both Hanbo and Urbanco.

According to police, the case involves the sale of apartments from the K-Park Residences using forged documents, and embezzlement of the money collected through fraud.

Manday was arrested by the police, but was later granted conditional release by the court.

According to Hu, Manday had sold the same apartments to multiple parties, had accepted cars and other such items in exchange for apartments, and had sold some of the apartments at below value.

Manday denies the allegations, describing the case against him as an attempt to defame him.