Former DJA staff convicted of accepting bribes, slapped with fine and 160 hours of community service

The Criminal Court today convicted a former employee of Department of Judicial Administration (DJA) on charges of accepting bribes and three counts of abusing his official designation, handing him a total total fine of MVR 379,644 and mandatory 160 hours of community service.

The individual in question is former head of procurement and logistics at DJA Hailam Mohamed. He was charged of the crimes in 2019 over suspicions that he may have accepted bribes in procuring goods and services for DJA and awarding projects to parties he has ties to.

The court found that upon a project being awarded to one of the companies, Hailam received money from the company’s account to his personal bank account, which led to the charge of accepting bribes. He confessed to the crime in court and received a punishment of 40 hours of mandatory community service and a fine of MVR 56,200.

He was also found guilty of three counts of abusing his official designation for awarding projects to companies he is associated with, in a way that also benefits him. This added another 120 hours to his community service and an additional fine of MVR 82,200.

The court also ordered compensation for the state’s losses, adding MVR 241,244 to the amount he owes the government.

With this, he has to complete 160 hours of community service and pay MVR 379,644 to the state.