Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has revealed investigation of 155 individuals who received funds from SOF Private Limited is led by Maldives Police Service.
Last February, ACC released the detailed report on the investigation of the biggest ever corruption scandal in the recent history of Maldives, after an investigation conducted on corruption of Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC).
The report publicised the bank accounts and identities of the owners of the bank accounts involved in the scam, and the islands leased by the corporation. The acquisition fee of leased islands by MPPRC were deposited to a bank account of SOF.
Speaking to PSM News, Vice President of ACC Muavviz Rasheed said it was initially decided to conduct a joint investigation with Maldives Police Service, adding however, ACC does not have the authority to do so. Muavviz revealed as money laundering and forgery are not included in the mandate of ACC, the cases are investigated by police service.
Moreover, Muavviz said 155 individuals were not summoned to ACC, but since police has new leads on the cases, the cases were investigated by the police. He said ACC is assisting police service in the investigation.
The report published on the website of ACC shows investigation on 57 islands, further highlighting the acquisition cost of the islands were deposited to other bank accounts after endorsing checks rather than depositing it to the bank account of MMPRC.
The 759-page detailed report on the scandal stated USD 77.45 million should be deposited to MMPRC. However, out of the USD 77.45 million, USD 1.5 million was deposited to Millennium Capital Management Private Limited. ACC said the transactions did not state why such a huge amount was deposited to the company.
Meanwhile, the report noted the investigations showed the acquisition cost of Maabinhuraa in Lhaviyani Atoll was directly deposited to Millennium Capital Management. Therefore, a total of USD 6.5 million from the acquisition costs was deposited to the company.
Moreover, the largest amount of the scandal was deposited to SOF, which amounts to USD 64.8 million. SOF also received USD 5.35 million from the USD 12.5 million deposited to MMPRC.