Police raid FAM office in Galholhu Stadium

Maldives Police Service today raided the Football Association of Maldives (FAM) office in Galolhu Football Stadium as part of the ongoing investigations into corruption and money laundering allegations against the association.

Authorities obtained a search warrant to enter the office, which is where some administrative and technical work of FAM is carried out.

This is the second FAM office which police have raided within the past year. Last October, police raided the association's office near Maafannu stadium, as part of the investigation initiated at the direction of Prosecutor General (PG) Hussain Shameem.

Local media outlet 'Mihaaru News' reported that the purpose of today's raid was to collect documents and digital information pertaining FAM's financial transactions.

The prime suspect of all the allegations against the association, PG Shameem said, is FAM's President Bassam Adeel Jaleel, who is currently in the country under a no fly order.

However, with the public insinuating Bassam's guilt, a court recently ordered against such language, reminding everyone of his right to be deemed innocent until proven guilty.

Bassam is currently charged with money laundering and fraud for allegedly transferring USD 10,000 from FAM's funds to his personal account and using the money for his own purposes. The case is now in trial, with his no-fly order also in effect pending the outcome.

PG Office previously revealed that their investigations found Bassam to have transferred FAM's funds to his personal bank account under the pretence of currency exchange.

The March edition of 'Unsur', the Prosecutor General's Office newsletter, detailed that the transfer details sent to the bank while these funds were transferred to Bassam's account were entered as "sales of dollar."

"... However the Maldivian Rufiyaa (MVR) equivalent of those funds were never credited to any [Maldivian] Rufiyaa accounts of FAM. Financial transactions prove that Bassam used the money for personal use," the newsletter read.

These include purchase of property, spending on businesses, family and trips abroad, it also detailed.