The Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) has appealed to the Prosecutor General's Office to charge a company, Popular Maldives, with money laundering in relation to the MMPRC corruption case.
Popular Maldives is accused of having received misappropriated funds through the MMPRC.
ACC stated today that parts of funds owed to the State through leasing islands for tourism purposes between February 2014 to October 2015 was deposited to Popular Maldives' account by SOF Pvt Ltd.
The investigation revealed that on July 13, 2015, USD 150,000 was deposited to the Popular Maldives' bank account through an SOF cheque.
ACC said the company tried to present the deposit as a dollar exchange transaction. It also attempted to hide the source of the funds and mislead authorities about how the money was obtained.
As per the Economic Ministry's portal, shareholders of Popular Maldives are listed as Reesham Riyaz and Rausham Riyaz.
The ACC's investigation also found that funds paid as the acquisition cost of Th. Olhugiri had been obtained through illicit means.
The Olhugiri lease agreement states that a resort has to be developed on the island within 36 months of signing and grants the ministry the authority to reclaim the island and charge liquidation damages in the event on non-compliance.
However, this was not followed through, ACC finds.
ACC has appealed to the PG Office to press money laundering charges and to recover the USD 150,000 obtained by Popular Maldives. They also advised to direct the Tourism Ministry to seize Olhugiri.
ACC said that the commission is also in discussions with the PG Office regarding several other serious cases related to the MMPRC corruption issue. The commission has not disclosed details on these as of yet.
An ACC report regarding their investigation into the MMPRC corruption scandal reveals that the commission believes the State has lost MVR 1.4 billion it was owed through the leasing of islands and lagoons for tourism purposes.
The parliament's Public Accounts Committee has previously stated that they have irrefutable proof of persons involved in misappropriating MVR 14.6 million of the funds lost to the MMPRC corruption scandal.
