Bassam's trial: Ali Umar gives testimony

Former Vice President of the Football Association of Maldives (FAM) Ali Umar has testified in the trial of two charges against former President of FAM Bassam Adeel Jaleel for embezzling money sent by FIFA.

Bassam had initially denied the charges of fraud and money laundering raised against him. Prosecution is currently in the process of taking testimonies from witnesses.

Ali Umar stated in his testimony today at the Criminal Court that he held the power to sign cheques of FAM and he has signed FAM cheques in the past. Cheques for dollar receipts for FAM which that gets converted to MVR, along with the signage moving forward after the necessary documents have been compiled was also a responsibility held by him.

However, when questioned by the state about certain transactions, Ali Umar stated that he has no memory of the transactions in question and that he has simply forgotten. The authorities have stated that during the investigation they had asked Ali Umar questions about certain transactions and that Ali Umar had cooperated and said that it was truthful answers.

Ali Umar has also stated to the court that the President and Vice President of FAM wouldn't have much of a role in the day-to-day activities that unfold, and that there wouldn't be any involvement at all. The responsibility of day-to-day operations lie with the General Secretary, he stated.

Answering a question by Bassam's lawyer, Ali Umar said that Bassam was receiving an allowance of USD 5,000 from the FAM President. He stated however, that he doesn't know whether Bassam took the allowance or not, and that there would be statements at FAM concerning that for perusal.

A police officer that conducted a search on the FAM premises and Bassam's private residence gave their testimony at today's hearing. He stated that all parties were cooperative and that there were no instances of anyone trying to hide any sort of evidence.

A hearing had been slated for June 21 regarding this issue, with witness testimonies being taken.

PG office has stated that funds sent by FIFA, between the months of July to August 2018, to FAM's account in Bank of Ceylon had USD 10,000 sent to Bassam's account with proof of statements in August 2018 while Bassam was the President of FAM. With bank charges removed from the initial amount, a total of USD 9,999 was sent to Bassam's account.

PG office has also stated that USD 1,910 out of the USD 9,999 had been sent to another account and then invested in Glacier Investments, of which Bassam and his wife, Aminath Maureena has shares in. The money had been used for various purposes as well, PG Office said.

The prosecution states that the money had been used to pay the rent for his Rehendhi flat, along with other transactions unrelated to FAM.

The state says that the USD 10,000 should be given to the state, along with Bassam being sentenced to a period of 5 to 15 years in prison and a payable fine between USD 10,000 and USD 1,000,000.

Fraud charges allege that US dollar transactions from FAM to Bassam's account were made for the purpose of converting the funds to Maldivian rufiyaa, according to Bassam’s statements to the bank. However, as the money was never returned to FAM’s account, the charges state that it was embezzled. The basic sentence for the offence is one year, seven months and six days in jail.

There are additional charges of fraud and money laundering raised against Bassam concerning FAM funds.