Charges filed against Akram, other former housing ministry officials in flat list issue
The charges allege that they misused their official positions and influence to secure improper benefits
Former State Minister at the housing ministry Akram Kamaludeen
Charges have been filed against former State Minister at the Housing Ministry Akram Kamaludeen and three other senior officials of the ministry at that time in connection with the case of providing undue benefits to certain parties through the ‘Gedhoruveriyaa’ scheme.
The charges were forwarded to the Prosecutor General’s Office on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) revealed that the case was sent to the PG Office as evidence gathered during the investigation conducted jointly by the commission and the Maldives Police Service (MPS) revealed that certain parties were included in the list of the first 4,000 flats recipients in the first round of the Gedhoruveriyaa Scheme, providing undue benefits to specific individuals.
In addition to Akram, charges have been sought against Mohamed Arif, native to Ihavandhoo island of Haa Alif atoll, who was then in the position of Senior Executive at the Housing Ministry; Liruam Waheed who was also in the position of Senior Executive at the ministry and Ahmed Vishan Naseem who was in the position of Director General at the ministry then.
The charges allege that they misused their official positions and influence to secure improper benefits.
ACC has revealed that in addition to these allegations, they are continuing to investigate other additional offenses suspected to have been committed by those involved in the case, in collaboration with the police institution.
The list of 4,000 flats was released on 4 November 2023, shortly before the end of former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's administration. After several people complained about the list, it was opened for complaints, reviewed, and a new list was publicized on 17 November 2023.
ACC had stopped the handover of the flats, stating that the list was compiled in a way that provided undue benefits to certain people.
Consequently, after reviewing the list, the housing ministry of the current administraton announced in February that 1,820 people were eligible for the 4,000 flats and that 53 percent of the points given to people in the previous list were invalid.
As a result, many people expressed concern that those who were previously allocated flats lost the opportunity to receive one.
In connection with ACC's investigation into the flat list, the new government, upon coming to power, paused the flat allocation and began the process of reviewing the list.
After reviewing the list, a temporary list was compiled in March and opened for complaints. After these stages, the government announced last week that it has decided not to release another list.
Therefore, as it stands now, the flats will be allocated based on the flat list compiled during Solih's administration, as stated by the current government's Minister of Construction, Housing and Infrastructure Dr. Abdulla Muththalib last week.
