Maldives minister denies any wrongdoing after corruption charges are sought, said being made "a sacrificial lamb"

Minister of Youth, Sports & Community Empowerment Ahmed Mahloof has denied any wrongdoing after the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) sought charges against him relation to the country’s largest corruption scandal, claiming that he was being made “a sacrificial lamb”.

ACC on Wednesday released a statement announcing the decision to seek charges against the minister in relation to the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) corruption scandal, with details of the accusations against him.

It said that there is evidence to believe that the USD 33,000 transferred to Mahloof’s account through SoF –the company used to funnel funds from the state- in August 2014 was a bribe by then Tourism Minister Ahmed Adeeb, to vote in favour of the government’s SEZ bill. ACC said that Mahloof had returned from Malaysia to take part in the SEZ bill vote after the funds were transferred to his account.

Further, ACC accuses Mahloof of submitting fake document to prove his innocence including a payment received receipt. The youth minister had claimed that the funds were transferred to his account as a currency exchange deal, and that he had paid SoF back in Maldivian Rufiyaa. However, ACC said that the document submitted does not prove such a transaction.

In a series of tweets posted on Thursday, Mahloof denied any wrongdoing and said that he was being made “a sacrificial lamb”.

Noting that he was being treated unfairly, Mahloof said that it will be clear to the leaders that this is bring orchestrated by politicians and their “sole purpose is to remove [him] from office”.

He further said that the reason he voted in favour of the SEZ bill as he was a member of then-ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and that he had voted as per a three-line whip issued by the party.

The minister went on to say that was “tired” of all this unjustness and that he “can only keep quiet for so long”. He described the current events as "a political conspiracy".

He also accused investigative bodies of being influenced to omit certain names from the alleged MMPRC corruption list and asked, “Was the commission only able to find my name from the 300 names on the list after three years”.

In one of the tweet, Mahloof also noted that the ACC “does not have the legal authority to seek charges in the case,” stressing that this is clear from the decree on the establishment of the asset recovery commission.

This is not the first time the minister is being accused of benefitting from the MMPRC corruption scandal, his name was also in the initial list released by the anti-corruption watchdog in February 2019.

While he was suspended after the report was released, the suspension was lifted two months later after ACC and the police cleared his name. Mahloof was suspended again on Wednesday, until a decision by the prosecutor general over the ACC request.