Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has submitted charges against Lieutenant Colonel of the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) Ibrahim Naveen Zubair accused of benefiting from the corruption scandal of the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC).
ACC requested the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) to prosecute Naveen for taking, soliciting, agreeing to accept, and accepting bribes and using his influence as an officer of MNDF to obtain illegal benefits from a person or entity. ACC also requested to charge him with possession of money obtained from bribery and money laundering. In addition, ACC ordered MMPRC to recover USD100,000 owed to the state in connection with the alleged fraud case against Naveen.
The MMPRC corruption scandal involves the largest embezzlement of state funds in the history of the Maldives, with investigations suggesting that the total amount embezzled is over USD220 million. The Parliament of the Maldives publicised a list of 281 beneficiaries of the corruption scandal, including 119 state officials, and 16 parliamentarians.