Previous administration asked for information on treasury: Neeza
Neeza said that she had refused the request, and told them that MMA will not commit to any task that they are not obligated to do
MMA building
Former Assistant Governor of Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) has said that the previous administration had asked for information on its treasury.
Speaking at the parliament’s finances committee, Neeza said that she had refused the request, and told them that MMA will not commit to any task that they are not obligated to do.
Neeza said that she discussed the request with then MMA Governor Azeema Shakoor, who said that MMA had abided by her wishes.
At the committee meeting, Neeza did not to detail when and who in the administration had made the request. However, there have been earlier accusations that black money had been transferred to the treasury.
In the Al Jazeera documentary Stealing Paradise, it was shown that former Vice President Ahmed Adeeb had worked with a Malaysian businessman, along with Indonesian and Singaporean businessemen, to bring in USD 1.5 billion in black money, in the name of investments, which was to be laundered using MMA.
Information in the documentary were obtained from Adeeb’s three phones, which revealed that the money were to be brought in through a charter flight and to be handed over to the Defence Force’s custody before being taken to MMA. Afterwards, the money were to be transferred to a State Bank of India account to be withdrawn in various amounts.
After the documentary, MMA released a statement which stated that its treasury accepts and releases money through strict procedures with the approval of senior members and officials of the parliament, Auditor General’s Office, and Ministry of Finance and Treasury.
The Stealing Paradise documentary also details MMA’s involvement in the embezzlement of state funds by leasing islands through the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC).
Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC)’s investigative report stated that MMA’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) had been notified of the money laundering attempt but that they had filed the report without taking action and that while the report had been sent to MMA Governor Azeema’s e-mail, there was no evidence that she had given any instruction related to it.
