Prosecutor General Abbas Shareef has asked the Maldives Police Service and the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to investigate and seek charges if any violations are found in the allocation of land and flats from reclaimed suburb Hulhumale’.
Police late Wednesday launched an investigation and raided the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) after a major fraud scandal came to light over the handling of Hulhumalé land plots under the previous government's Binveriyaa housing scheme.
HDC is a state-owned enterprise mandated with managing and undertaking the overall planning and development of Hulhumale’.
In a statement, the Prosecutor General’s Office said it had received concerning reports of flagrant violations of the rules and regulations in accepting applications and determining the recipients of land and flats under the housing scheme.
The Prosecutor General believes that a comprehensive criminal investigation must be conducted as this is a matter of public interest, the Office said.
For these reasons, under the powers conferred on the Prosecutor General under Article 223 of the Constitution, after conducting a thorough investigation into the allegations, Prosecutor General Abbas Shareef has ordered the Maldives Police Service and the Anti-Corruption Commission to seek charges if any violations are found, the statement added.
In addition, the Prosecutor General has also asked the authorities to provide weekly updates on the progress of the investigation. Police had earlier said that an investigation has been launched following a tip-off into a case of alleged forged documents.
Meanwhile, the Privatization and Corporatization Board (PCB) has suspended the Board of Directors of HDC, except for the Chairperson, citing the ongoing investigation.
According to the PCB's statement, the suspension will remain in place until the police complete their investigation and until the PCB reaches a decision on the matter. Among those suspended is HDC’s Managing Director Ibrahim Fazul Rasheed, alongside board directors Azhar Abdulla Saeed, Ibrahim Yoosuf Fulhu, Muhammad Visham, Ula Mohamed Rasheed, Arif Abdul Samad, Mohamed Naajil, Mohamed Waheed, Fathmath Mizna Ali, and Yoosuf Waheed.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday evening, HDC Managing Director Rasheed clarified that the Ministry of Housing, Land, and Urban Development decided the recipients of the Binveriya housing scheme. HDC had no role in the decision-making process and had not allocated any land plots in Hulhumalé to individuals who were not officially declared recipients by the Housing Ministry, he explained.
Rasheed’s statement responded to local media allegations suggesting that HDC had handed over land plots to non-recipients under the scheme. According to Rasheed, the controversial land plots had initially been flagged and reported to the relevant authorities by HDC itself. Rasheed also provided a timeline of requests made to, and responses received from, the housing ministry, regarding the matter.