Malé, Maldives – Following the recommendation of Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) to the Prosecutor General’s (PG) Office to prosecute Minister Ahmed Mahloof has been asked to step aside from official duties until a decision is made by the PG.
Mahloof had earlier denied of wrongdoings and stated that it was money taken to purchase dollar and that he was not aware that the money was part of the corruption and had told that he will resign if prosecuted. Mahloof was suspended previously regarding this, however, once he was cleared, he returned to his position.
According to the investigation carried out by Maldives Police Service, Presidential Comission on Corruption and Asset Recovery amd Anti Corruption Commission over the MMPRC corruption, Mahloof had taken a bribe of USD 33,000 to vote for the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Bill and also to remain in Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM).
The investigation also revealed that Mahloof was in Malaysia during the debate of the bill and came to Maldives to attend the vote on August 27, 2014 and voted in favor of the government to pass the bill.
The joint investigation also showed that the investigation was able to link the text messages exchanged between Mahloof and Former Vice President of Maldives, Ahmed Adeeb (Bro) and the money deposited by SOF cheque of USD 33,000 to Mahloof to the vote taken in parliament as a bribe.
It was also revealed that Mahloof had given forged documents to Anti-Corruption Commission in an attempt to show that the he had done a legitimate transaction to purchase dollars from SOF.
