FIU's then-head cannot be charged without taking action against governor: MP Mickail

Following an ACC report incriminating the former head of the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA)’s Financial Intelligence Unit in the biggest corruption case in the country’s history, South-Galolhu constituency MP Mickail Naseem has said that he cannot be charged without taking action against current Governor Ahmed Naseer.

ACC says that its investigation shows that Athif Shakoor had decided against forwarding the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) case to the police, despite receiving a Suspicious Transaction Report. ACC also highlighted that Shakoor had confessed to this during its investigation.

Speaking at Wednesday’s parliament sitting, during a deliberation on a report submitted by the public accounts committee, MP Mickail called to summon the governor to the committee, for dismissing Abdulla Ashraf- who took over the FIU- for filing the case at the police.

He called to question Naseer on the procedures in which Asfraf was terminated.

He was dismissed in September 2018, days before reports of a case against then President Abdulla Yameen being filed at the police surfaced. While Ashraf is to have filed the case on 13th September 2018, he was dismissed four days later.

ACC has forwarded Shakoor’s case for prosecution.

Shakoor was summoned to the parliament’s public finance committee this February, regarding ACC’s investigative report that revealed FIU had been negligent in the MMPRC graft, which saw over MVR 1.3 billion, acquired via island and lagoon leases for tourism, embezzled through a private company SOF Pvt Ltd.

According to Shakoor, he decided against filing the case due to lack of confidence in the authorities.