Former FAM President Bassam sentenced to 5 more years

Former Football Association of Maldives (FAM) President Bassam Adeel Jaleel has been convicted of money laundering the USD 10,000 (MVR 154,000) he embezzled from FAM. He has been sentenced to an additional five years in prison and fined MVR 154,000.

Bassam had previously been convicted of the crime of embezzlement for misappropriating USD 10,000 (MVR 154,000) from the funds deposited by FIFA into FAM's account in 2018 while he was the President of FAM, by submitting documents to the bank and transferring the money to his personal account.

He was previously sentenced to four years in prison on October 8th of this month in connection with the embezzlement charge. Today's conviction was for the charge of money laundering the same funds.

The state prosecuted the money laundering charge after claiming that Bassam used the embezzled money to pay the rent for his Rehendhi flat instead of exchanging the dollars as originally claimed.

In the Criminal Court verdict delivered by Judge Ismail Shafeeu, it was established that Bassam used the funds deposited into his private account, ostensibly for currency exchange, for his own purposes, thereby embezzling the money. The court determined that it was proven that the funds were the proceeds of the crime of embezzlement.

The judgment stated that the prosecution proved that Bassam used the money for his personal expenses and to spend on other individuals.

Consequently, the judge ruled that all elements required to prove the offense of money laundering were established, and Bassam was found guilty. A period was then allowed for submissions on the penalty.

The state requested the maximum penalty for Bassam, which is 15 years in prison and a fine of USD 50,000. Bassam's defense requested the minimum penalty, citing no prior criminal record.

Following the submissions, the Judge sentenced Bassam to five years in prison and ordered him to pay a fine of MVR 154,000, the amount that was laundered. He was ordered to pay the fine within six months.

The state also requested an order to recover the laundered USD 10,000 from Bassam. However, the Judge ruled that since the state could not confirm that the money was still in Bassam's account, a recovery order could not be issued under the law.

Bassam faces additional charges of embezzling other funds from FAM, and the trials for those cases are proceeding separately. In those related cases, the state has requested an order to recover a penthouse purchased by Bassam.