Investigation into Customs officers' bribery initiated five months ago: Police

The alleged circulation of MVR 400 million from the accounts of several customs officers has been under investigation for five months, police said today.

After local media outlets reported about some Customs officers being under investigation for bribery during the import duty collection process, Police said, when questioned, that such concerns were flagged to the agency in August of last year.

“Maldives Police Service launched an investigation into allegations of money laundering, fraud and bribery against employees of Maldives Customs Service after it was brought to the attention of the agency on August 19, 2024,” the police said responding to the media's questions.

However, the investigation has not yet been completed and no request has been sent for prosecution, Police also said. Reports say Customs has not taken any action against the employees as of now either.

According to sources reported by Mihaaru News, three Customs officers are under investigation over the matter.

However, a source said that to their knowledge, about 20 customs officers were involved in the bribery allegations.

Some of the issues have also been escalated to the Parliament's 241 Committee. According to Mihaaru, the committee has held classified meetings and questioned the leadership of relevant government stakeholder agencies.

Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Ahmed Nazim said last December that uniformed bodies cannot also be blindly trusted and that he would propose finding solutions for issues such as drugs once the current cases of the 241 committee were completed.

Customs officials have often always been on the receiving end of various allegations during the importing process of various items into the Maldives.