The Prosecutor General has pressed six charges against former Villimale' consituency MP Ahmed Nihan, in relation to the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) corruption scandal.
Nihan’s case was investigated jointly by the Maldives Police Service (MPS), the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and the Presidential Commission on Corruption and Asset Recovery before being forwarded for prosecution.
According to a press release by the Prosecutor General's Office on Tuesday, Ahmed Nihan has been found to have accepted bribes to influence his decisions as parliamentarian and the Chair of the National Budget Review Committee.
The statement specified that the investigation had revealed Nihan had continued to possess and use funds he had asked vormer Vice-President Ahmed Adeeb for as bribes while holding public office to fulfill his personal needs.
In addition to this, the press release also notes that none of these funds had been accounted for in the financial statements publicized by Nihan between 2014 and 2019, and requested that the court reclaim that money and the assets he amassed using those funds.
The details of the charges being levelled against Ahmed Nihan are as follows.
- one charge of accepting bribes to influence his decisions as a member of parliament, on account of Nihan having accepted a USD 150,000 check from then-Tourism Minister Ahmed Adeeb through SOF Pvt. Ltd.
- one charge of money laundering for combining the USD 150,000 he received from SOF with other funds to purchase a flat from Platinum Residences, despite having reason to believe that the money from Adeeb had been procured through illegal means.
- one charge of requesting bribes, referring to the Rolex Submariner watch which Nihan is to have asked Adeeb to “gift” him in exchange for changing his vote in approving names for the position of Prosecutor General in 2014, and in electing members for the Judicial Service Commission during the same year.
- one charge of having accepted bribes while in public office as Nihan continued to stay in possession of the Rolex Submariner watch, estimated to be worth upwards of USD 10,000.
- one charge of requesting bribes on account of Nihan having asked Adeeb for MVR 650,000 in exchange for conducting his duties as member of Parliament in accordance to Adeeb’s directive.
- one charge of having accepted bribes while in public office as Nihan accepted and continued to use the bribes he requested in the abovementioned charge.
