ACC takes statement from youth minister, reg. MMPRC report

Youth Minister Ahmed Mahloof was summoned to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Wednesday, to take his statement regarding the funds deposited to his account through the private company used to launder millions from the state.

Revealing this, Mahloof via twitter called on the Commission to expedite the investigation into the matter.

The minister is among the five officials suspended over the ACC’s report, publicized last Thursday, detailing the biggest corruption scandal in the country’s history.

According to the report released on Thursday, Mahloof received USD 33,000 from Scores of Flair (SOF)- the private company used to launder millions from the state-owned Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC).

In a statement released shortly after the report, Mahloof denied any wrongdoing.

Claiming that it was a foreign exchange transaction, Mahloof said that the transaction took place on 31 August 2014. He said that it was done while his family was running a fashion outlet in the capital, The Jeans, and was conducted by his younger brother Ali Mubeen. Mahloof added that the reason the money was deposited to his account was because The Jeans “did not have a dollar account.”

The minister also attached copies of the transaction receipt, as well as letters to and from the ACC, to his tweet. However, RaajjeMV has learnt that SOF was not authorized for foreign exchange transactions at the time.

While the receipt shows that the USD 33,000 was deposited in exchange for MVR 508, 860, the exchange rate is MVR 15.42 without any interests.

Mahloof stated that he “will resign” immediately if found guilty.

In a statement released on Monday, ACC noted that its report does not say that all included in the list “are not complicit in the MMPRC corruption.”