Government to submit Asset Recovery Bill

President Dr Mohamed Muizzu has said the government is working on submitting an Asset Recovery Bill with the goal of recovering funds lost through corruption and treason.

The President made these announcements last night at a gathering of ruling People's National Congress (PNC) at the party's main hub, PNC House.

President Muizzu said that the existing laws pose challenges in recovering funds lost by the State in this manner. He said that while recovering lost funds is among his pledges, the government is currently working on compiling an Asset Recovery Bill so that the funds can be collected through a law.

"Once again, several hundreds of millions is being spent. The lost funds are not returned to the State treasury. The stolen money. I will bring an end to that. For this reason, work has commenced on drafting an Asset Recovery Bill, which will be submitted to parliament," he said.

The President said that under this new law, assets will be recovered from persons who unduly sell state assets, sometimes at reduced prices, and the funds will be recovered so as to be profitable to the State. The law will further be designed to facilitate recovery of stolen funds being stored abroad, he said.

"Then, stolen money that is not only in Maldives, but those taken abroad will also be recovered more easily than now," the President said.

President Muizzu asserted that the funds lost in the large scale corruption case involving Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) will also be recovered, and those behind it brought to justice. He assured that this will be achieved through passing this new law even if previous governments had failed in the recovery of these funds through setting up commissions.

"MMPRC case is the biggest issue in all this. We will find those behind this theft, and the appropriate actions will be taken against them regardless of who they are, and the funds recovered for the people," the President said.

He emphasized that the persons involved should receive a fair trial and be sentenced justly.