Dawood relieved of duties amidst ongoing corruption investigations

Maldives Police Service announced today that Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Mohamed Dawood, the former head of Hulhumalé Police, has been relieved of his responsibilities and temporarily assigned to report directly to the Police Commissioner due to serious corruption allegations being investigated.

In a message shared tonight in response to inquiries from "Mihaaru" this morning, the Police stated that Mohamed Dawood has been "relieved" from his duties as head of Hulhumalé Police, effective November 1, and is now directed to report only to Police Commissioner Ismail Naveen.

The Police Media Official added that effective from that date, Assistant Commissioner Ahmed Mohamed has been appointed to the post of head of Hulhumalé Police.

It has been discovered that while Dawood is reporting directly to the Police Commissioner, he has been assigned no operational responsibilities.

The Police Media Official explained that Dawood was relieved of his duties pending the outcome of investigations by both the Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee and the National Integrity Commission (NIC). The official added that this decision was made because Dawood, along with other officers, faces allegations related to the major MMPRC corruption scandal, and the police component of that issue is currently under review.

A report released by a subcommittee of the Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee on the 14th of last month noted that money had been deposited into Dhawood's accounts in 2023 and 2024 with an unknown "source of income." The report stated that as police officers are prohibited from engaging in business, Dawood has no registered business ownership.

Ahmed Nazim, the Vice Speaker of Parliament and Chairperson of the subcommittee that investigated matters related to POLCO, stated that the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has identified additional issues regarding the money deposited into Dawood's account. However, he noted that this information was contained within a confidential ACC report and could not be disclosed publicly.

Dawood’s accounts were also flagged in the Asset Recovery Commission’s report related to the MMPRC corruption. Nazim previously stated that the list of 280 suspected individuals in that report included Dawood, Chief Superintendent of Police Ismail Shameem Adam, and two now-retired officers, Ahmed Shuhad and Hassan Habeeb.

Nazim further claimed that information shared by whistleblowers during the Public Accounts Committee's review of the POLCO issue revealed that Dawood and businessman Hassan Thaufeeq partnered to construct a 10-story real estate investment at Ma. Thalamudhige under their wives’ names, totaling MVR 10.5 million, from which they were generating profit. Nazim stated that the committee had confirmed this arrangement as a copy of the agreement, registered in the Civil Court, was obtained.

However, Dawood’s legal representatives later released a statement refuting Nazim’s claims.