Parliament Member of Ihavandhoo Constituency Mohamed Abdulla submitted a bill to Parliament on Monday, proposing an amendment to the Penal Code criminalizing illicit enrichment.
The bill aims to prevent civil servants from acquiring a significant increase in assets and/or income that he or she cannot reasonably justify based on their allotted renumeration and associated investments.
The act of illicit enrichment was never defined as a criminal offence when the Penal Code was passed by the Parliament and later ratified by former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom in 2014.
According to the bill, which is targeted at criminalising illicit enrichment, is proposed with respect to the means by which such (corrupt) acts are being conducted today.
If amended, the bill will additionally grant powers for the state to seize any assets proven to be acquired illicitly.
MP Mohamed Abdulla’s amendment states classified any such acts of illicit enrichment committed by a president, ministers, a member of parliament or someone filling the position of a judge as a level two felony, which can be punishable by up to 15 years in prison, with the smallest punishment being jail term of one and a half years.
Moreover, it also classifies that illicit enrichment by state officials excluding the aforementioned positions is a class three felony which can be punishable by up to eight years in prison. The smallest punishment is jail time of nine to 18 months.
Bill proposals will be implemented after being passed by the parliament, ratified by the President and published in the Gazette.
Criminalizing illicit enrichment is an electoral pledge of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.
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