Criminal Court of the Maldives has decided to commence the trial of the corruption charges pressed against Minister of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment Ahmed Mahloof on February 10.
Mahloof is facing trial on charges of bribery in relation to the corruption scandal of Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC). The Criminal Court had initially scheduled to commence the hearings of the trial on January 19, but later postponed the trial due to an outbreak of COVID-19 cases among court staff. The trial was rescheduled to begin on February 10, after the COVID-19 situation of the court improved.
The charge sheet presented by the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) states Mahloof had received a bribe of USD 33,000 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 member of the parliament. As per the investigation of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), 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 USD 33,000 deposited by SOF to his account was part of a currency exchange transaction. However, ACC said there is no solid evidence to prove that the funds were transferred for currency exchange.
The charges against Mahloof were initially forwarded by ACC to the PGO in June last year, following which Mahloof was suspended from his duties as the youth minister. However, the suspension was revoked in October.