The Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) has decided to drop charges against Minister of Youth, Sports, and Community Empowerment Ahmed Mahloof. The PGO made the decision due to the lack of sufficient evidence to prove that Minister Mahloof had accepted a bribe.
In November 2021, Minister Mahloof was charged with bribery in relation to the corruption scandal of the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC). The PGO stated he had received a bribe of USD33,000 from the funds embezzled through MMPRC to vote in favour of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) bill proposed by the then-administration when he was a parliamentarian. However, he has vehemently denied the charges and said the monetary transaction was legal.
Following the review of the charges, the Criminal Court ruled that the evidence presented by the PGO was not strong enough to proceed with the trial. The decision was appealed by the PGO at the High Court, which ordered the lower court to re-open the trial after stating that the court had not relied on crucial evidence provided by the state when making the decision to dismiss the charges.
The case against Minister Mahloof was investigated by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). As per the report, Mahloof had arrived in the Maldives from Malaysia just in time for the parliament sitting held on August 27, 2014, where he voted to pass the SEZ bill. ACC further noted Mahloof had submitted a payment receipt to prove that the USD33,000 deposited to his account was part of a currency exchange transaction. However, ACC stated there is no solid evidence to prove that the funds were transferred for currency exchange.