Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) has filed suit against Villa Shipping, owned by Jumhoree Party (JP) leader Qasim Ibrahim.

MIRA is looking to obtain more than MVR 75m in the new case, while it already has other lawsuits against five companies of Qasim in court, to recover more than MVR 2.5b ($166m).

The state authority now has three lawsuits against Villa Shipping: One to recover MVR 49.3m ($3.2m) over Tourism Goods and Services Tax (T-GST) and fines, another to recover MVR 18m ($1.2m) over green tax and fines, and another to recover MVR 7m over Goods and Services Tax (GST) and fines.

The State has also taken back some islands leased to Qasim’s companies.

Qasim, the MP of Maamigili, was found guilty of bribery and has been sentenced to three years in prison.

Qasim is currently in Germany seeking medical treatment. He has flown there after he was granted permission to trave to Singapore for medical treatment by the state.