The Maldives Police Service (MPS) has held consultations with the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) over the ongoing investigation into fraud and corruption allegations in the allocation of land and flats under a government housing scheme.
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’.
The Anti-Corruption Commission meanwhile has launched a separate corruption investigation into the scandal which has caused intense public outrage.
The meeting held on Thursday was attended by Commissioner of Police Ali Shujau and members of the Anti-Corruption Commission.
Police said intensive consultations over the housing scheme investigation were held during the meeting.
Police had earlier said that an investigation has been launched following a tip-off into a case of alleged forged documents.
The Prosecutor General Abbas Shareef has asked the Police and the ACC to seek charges if any violations are found in the investigations.
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.