No MVR 14 million transaction was made with President Muizzu: Riyaz

Former Commission of Police Abdulla Riyaz has denied accusations by several People's National Front (PNF) members who claim that former Vice President Ahmed Adeeb gave him MVR 14 million to spy on former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Qayyoom during his administration.

In last night's event of the the weekly meetings held by PNF, which was founded by Yameen himself, Ahmed Fayaz (Papa) who was the Maldivian National Defence Force (MNDF)'s Malé Area Commander and SPG's Commander at the time, made several allegations against President Muizzu and Riyaz.

Fayaz, who was convicted for attempting to destroy evidence in the 2015 presidential launch bombing and served a two year jail term, delivered a presentation with information about President Muizzu who was the Minister of Housing at the time, and Abdul Raheem Abdullah who is now the Speaker of the Parliament. He alleges this information was found on Riyaz's mobile phone at the time.

Fayaz said that President Muizzu shared with others what was being said at the President's Office, at the Cabinet as well as internal conversations within Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) regarding Adeeb's arrest.

"... [I]n this, Abdulla Riyaz's phone shows that Ahmed Adeeb gave MVR 14 million to do these things," Fayaz said in the meeting that Yameen also attended.

According to his presentation, text messages between Riyaz and Muizzu show that Adeeb paid MVR 14 million to Muizzu via a member of the public.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Riyaz refuted the claims and said that President Muizzu had not discussed any political issues before the second round of last year's presidential election. He also said that a MVR 14 million transaction was never made.

"A deliberate big lie! I have not spoken to President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu on any political matter before the second round of the 2023 presidential election. I have not made any communication [regarding the transaction] of MVR 14 million with him by phone, text message or verbally," he said.

Speaking at the ruling party People's National Congress (PNC)'s meeting last night, President Muizzu also denied allegations that he took MVR 14 million from Adeeb.

The President said that his name was also not on the list of people who benefited from the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations (MMPRC) fraud and money laundering, issued by the previous ruling party Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP). He stressed that the list was published when MDP was in power.

"It doesn't have my name on it, even if it's changed in various ways," he said.

However, he said that he was surprised to see his name on a list created by PNF, and that he had the matter investigated via Police.

"They analysed the report or the document. The fake forgeries on it are in the police report. Police issued a statement that a fake [claim was] shown to attempt and prove I touched the MMPRC funds," Muizzu said.

Fayaz, who was the former head of MNDF's Special Protection Group and armoury, was earlier sentenced to prison. He was charged with ordering MNDF officers to obstruct Police from getting on board the launch to investigate the blast.