Hearings in bribery charges against sports minister to begin next week

The trial over the charges raised against Minister of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment, Ahmed Mahloof, is to begin next week.

Media official at the Prosecutor General’s Office told RaajjeMV that the first hearing is slated for January 19.

Bribery charges against Mahloof were forwarded to the Criminal Court on 24 November 2021.

The sports minister is being charged under Article 3 (b) in reference to (a), of the Anti-Corruption Act, for accepting bribes.

According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, Mahloof is accused of accepting bribes from SoF -a company implicated in the grand corruption case revolving around the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC)- as per findings from a joint investigation conducted by the Maldives Police Service (MPS), the Presidential Inquiry Commission on Corruption and Asset Recovery and the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in connection to the MMPRC scandal.

ACC sought criminal charges against the minister in relation to the MMPRC corruption scandal on 9 June 2021. While Mahloof is among the many people who are to have benefitted in the largest corruption scandal in the country’s history, ACC had completed its investigation into Mahloof’s case and forwarded the case for prosecution in June.

He was suspended until a PG Office reaches a decision on the matter.

Mahloof, who previously said he will resign if charges were raised, recently threatened that the government "will be exposed" if his case goes to trial.

ACC 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 favor 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.

ACC said that after cross-checking the dates and exchanges between Mahloof and Adeeb following the vote, that the investigation shows that Adeeb had given the USD 33,000 to Mahloof as a bribe. Mahloof, who at the time of the transaction was a lawmaker aligned with then ruling Progressive Party of Maldives led by then President Abdulla Yameen, said that he had merely voted as per a three-line whip issued by the party.

The minister denies the accusations, and claimed that he is "being made a sacrificial lamb".

He was suspended from his ministerial post twice round in connection to the case, the latest one having been on 9 June 2021. His suspension was lifted four months later on 9 October 2021.

After the charges were forwarded to the court, Mahloof took to Twitter with screenshots of a conversation apparently between Prosecutor General Hussain Shameem and another. When questioned by RaajjeMV about the controversial chatlog, PG Shameem revealed that he would comment on the matter, at court.

In his Tweet Mahloof wrote that the chatlogs show how “personal” the decision really was. He wrote that he would not resign from his ministerial post and that the truth will be unveiled at court.