Minister of Youth, Sports, and Community Empowerment Ahmed Mahloof has returned to work following the end of his suspension. Minister Mahloof returned to work on October 10, after four months of being in suspension.
Mahloof's first act as minister after returning to work was receiving Sri Lanka's Minister of Youth and Sports Namal Rajapaksa upon his arrival in the Maldives.
President's Office had suspended Minister Mahloof after Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) requested to charge him over his alleged involvement in the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) corruption scandal. ACC requested the minister be charged under Article 2(a) of the Anti-Corruption Act, on the counts of bribery and embezzlement, as well as under Article 521 of the Penal Code of the Maldives for providing false information to an investigative authority.
The commission stated he had received a bribe of USD 33,000 from funds embezzled through MMPRC, to vote in favour of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) bill proposed by the then-administration, when he was a member of the parliament.
Mahloof had allegedly 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.
Furthermore, ACC said the investigation had revealed a cheque for USD 33,000 had been deposited to his account by SOF Private Limited, which had acted as the main distributor of the embezzled funds. The charges against Mahloof were submitted to the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) on June 9.
On the same day, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih ordered Mahloof to step aside from his duties until a decision is made on his case.