Police passes not to investigate MP Ismail Mohamed's bribery claims

Maldives Police Service (MPS) has passed not to investigate the case filed in the agency, asking them to investigate his ‘effective confession’ that he was party to distributing cash bribes.

The case was filed with Police on April 9th.

In the response sent to the applicant, Police said that they had passed not to pursue an investigation on the case, as Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) was already investigating the case. MPS said that they had shared the details of the case with ACC.

The case was submitted over Ismail’s comments at a program broadcast live on Sangu Television on March 9th, 2016, where he said he had ‘lunged around a sack of money’ for former Vice President Ahmed Adheeb and ‘distributing it on his behalf’.

The comments insinuate that Ismail had intended to solidify Adheeb’s culpability in a large embezzlement case involving the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation.

MP Ismail is a close associate of President Abdullah Yameen. In addition to his admission on the Parliament floor, the Parliamentarian had also made the same claim on live TV as well.

While MP Ismail made this claim, it had remained uninvestigated and is yet to be summoned to Police.

However, Parliamentarians Qasim Ibrahim and Faris Maumoon had been summoned to Police on various occasions as part of Police investigation into alleged bribery claims.

Following Police’s decision, sentiment had risen on social media, with many users claiming that they “knew this will not be investigated”.