Dr. Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed, recently appointed running mate of President Abdulla Yameen for the approaching Presidential Election as well as the Chancellor of the Islamic University, has said that neither him nor any member of his family had been involved in an illegal gold trade with an international company.
Speaking on RaajjeTV’s ‘Fala Surkhee’ programme on Thursday night, Dr. Shaheem had claimed that neither him nor any of his family members had been involved in such an illegal trade.
“I am someone who has had a history of integrity. I have never done such a trade with an outsider” said Dr. Shaheem.
The matter of Shaheem being involved in trade with a merchant from Dubai, United Arab Emirates who had assured to aid Maldives Zakat Fund, along with Shaheem’s wife Afiya Waheed has surfaced following which the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) had launched an investigation in March 2013 while Dr. Shaheem was serving as Islamic Minister in incumbent President Abdulla Yameen’s predecessor Dr. Waheed Hussain Manik’s administration.
ACC’s investigation had verified that a company under the name “Pure Gold Jewelers Maldives” in which Afiya had a share, had been registered by the merchant from UAE, Firoz Gulam Hussain who had guaranteed to donate USD 10,000 (MVR 154,200) to Maldives Zakat fund every month.
The case had been sent for prosecution to the Prosecutor General’s office in August 2013 after ACC’s investigation concluded.
According to the Anti-Corruption Act, state ministers as well as their spouses are banned from conducting such trades in association with an outsider.
When asked whether his wife’s case had been sent for prosecution at the Prosecutor General’s office, Dr. Shaheem had responded by asking to direct the station’s question to the Prosecutor General.
RaajjeMV understands that within a few days since the case had been sent for prosecution, Dr. Shaheem’s spouse had abruptly withdrawn the case from the Prosecutor General’s office in October 2014, with her having signed onto the ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives in the subsequent year.
The former Islamic Minister was chosen as the running mate at a PPM council meeting held on the 07th of July. He had begun his political career within Adhaalath Party and served as minister during former President Waheed’s tenure as well as the current administration.
Shaheem had resigned from his post in the current administration upon Adhaalath Party’s request after the government arrested party leader Imran Abdulla following the commotion caused by the mass May Day rally and had kept fair distance from politics for a while before resigning from Adhaalath Party in late 2015.
