Parliament has decided to move forward with the investigation of Bank of Maldives (BML) Deputy CEO Mohamed Shareef for providing false information.

Speaking at Tuesday’s sitting, Speaker Mohamed Nasheed said that new evidence they obtained has confirmed that the BML official had misled the parliament.

During questioning at the parliament committee over the MMPRC case, Shareef said BML did not send a non-negotiable cheque to SoF, the company involved in the state embezzlement. However, after the committee meeting, evidence showing that BML had sent non-negotiable cheques to SoF were leaked on social media.

According to the Constitution, providing false information to the parliament is a criminal offense, and on Sunday, the parliament announced that it had filed a police case alleging that Shareef had provided false information to the committee.

At Monday’s sitting, Speaker Nasheed said they are re-considering the investigation, after the Deputy CEO sent a letter claiming that he found out about the cheques via social media after the committee meeting and requesting another opportunity to provide information to the committee.

However, on Tuesday, Nasheed said that they have received new information in the form of photos of cross cheques to MMPRC that BML received, which Shareef had denied during questioning, and that therefore they will be proceeding with the investigation.