Ahmed Mahloof, Minister of Youth, Sports, and Community Empowerment, has been charged with bribery in connection with the MMPRC embezzlement case.
Bribery accusations against Minister Mahloof were filed in the Criminal Court today, according to the Prosecutor General’s Office.
According to a PG Office media representative, Mahloof is being accused with bribery for collecting USD 33,000 in return for voting for the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) bill in 2014, when he was acting as a legislator.
The charges against Mahloof have been filed after a lengthy delay since the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) referred his case for prosecution. He was also suspended for four months while awaiting a decision from the PG Office before being asked to resume duties last month.
According to the ACC, Mahloof returned to the Maldives from Malaysia on August 27, 2014, to vote for the SEZ bill submitted by the Yameen administration. Furthermore, Mahloof was discovered to have collected USD 33,000 from the SOF company. The Commission also revealed that Mahloof met with former Vice President Ahmed Adeeb, who is suspected of orchestrating the MMPRC scandal, after the vote on the SEZ bill.
The ACC also said that Mahloof produced a payment received slip in the name of the SOF company to establish that the USD 33,000 cheque was for foreign currency exchange reasons. However, the ACC investigation found no evidence that the money was earned through foreign currency trading.
Furthermore, the Commission claimed that the transaction was a bribe given by Adeeb to Mahloof based on witness testimony and evidence acquired throughout the investigation. According to the Commission, Ahmed Mahloof was accused under Article 2(A) of the Prevention and Prohibition of Corruption Act.
The ACC has also requested that Mahloof be charged under Article 552 (A) and (B) of the Penal Code for misleading the investigation by claiming that the USD 33,000 had been a legal currency exchange.
Mahloof has refuted the allegations on several occasions, alleging that he is being exploited as a “political scapegoat” in the MMPRC embezzlement investigation.
