Civil Court Orders Hanbo Company to Hand Over K-Park Flat and Pay Substantial Damages

The Civil Court has ordered Hanbo Company, the developer of the K-Park Residences in Hulhumalé, to hand over an apartment to a buyer by the end of this month and pay significant financial compensation following a lengthy legal dispute.

The lawsuit was initiated by an individual who purchased an apartment in 2019 for MVR 4.1 million. Despite the investment, the claimant alleged that neither the property nor a refund had been provided in the years since. In the claim, the buyer sought the immediate handover of the unit or a full refund, alongside damages of 25,000 MVR for every month the apartment remained undelivered. Hanbo Company notably offered no defence during the court proceedings.

In its ruling, the Civil Court mandated that Hanbo Company complete the handover of the property by the end of the current month. The court also ordered the company to pay 1.9 million MVR in damages by the end of April and continue paying a monthly penalty of 25,000 MVR until the apartment is officially transferred to the owner. While the court has previously issued similar handover orders against the company regarding other units, those rulings have reportedly remained unenforced.

This civil judgement follows a landmark criminal case involving the K-Park project, which has been mired in allegations of large-scale fraud. Earlier, the Criminal Court sentenced Hanbo Company shareholder Hassan Mamdooh to 390 years in prison—the longest sentence in Maldivian history—after he was found guilty of 94 charges including embezzlement, fraud, and money laundering. His associate, Jaishan Saeed, was sentenced to 159 years for his role in the scheme. Authorities found that the pair had defrauded numerous buyers by selling the same units to multiple individuals, leaving many victims still fighting to recover their losses.