Police send case against Bassam for prosecution

Police have forwarded for prosecution a case against former President of Football Association of Maldives (FAM) Bassam Adeel Jaleel, and a number of other individuals, for having purchased two apartments from Amin Avenue with association funds.

Bassam is accused of buying two apartments with the funds received as a loan through FIFA as aid to overcome financial difficulties faced by football clubs during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a press conference held today, Police said that in addition to Bassam, the seller of the apartment Amin Construction and FAM's then Finance Head Mohamed Ageel, and FAM then staff Hassan Waheed are also being charged in the case.

Police said that USD 1 million had been paid to the developer of Amin Avenue, Amin Construction, for purchasing two apartments from the complex. Amin Construction had not paid the equivalent in Dhivehi Rufiya to FAM, Police said, claiming that instead, documentation had been forged to indicate that it had been paid.

FAM, too, had taken a loan from a company with the intention of showing that the money had been received, Police said. They said that this value matched the amount on the receipt claiming that Amin Construction had paid FAM.

Considering these circumstances, Police believe that FAM had attempted to pass off the funds Bassam had paid to Amin Construction to buy the apartments as a money exchange transaction.

They stated that it has been observed that the USD 1 million was taken from the USD 1.9 million Covid Relief Loan that FAM had taken from FIFA.

The charges being pressed are of corruption, fraud and money laundering.

Earlier this year, Police had submitted a case against Bassam and Ageel to PG where he is accused depositing USD 10,000 from FAM accounts to his personal bank account.