Day: June 30, 2013

Police accuse former Home Minister of defrauding Madoogali Resort of service charge payments

Police have accused the former government’s Home Minister Hassan Afeef and a fellow shareholder of Madoogali Resort of implementing a policy halting service charge payments to staff, as required by the Employment Act.

In a statement police said company involved was Blue Lagoon Investment Private Limited, and identified the second shareholder as Moosa Hassan of Mathidhoo in the Maafaanu ward of Male.

Police alleged that Blue Lagoon Investment Private Limited had taken a 10 percent service charge from the tourists from November 2011 to January 2013, but failed to account for this in documentation.

Police claimed their investigation had revealed that the shareholders had defrauded 29 percent of the money they took as service charge.

According to police, the two shareholders also mortgaged the resort with a bank without consulting with the company’s third shareholder, against the regulations of the tourism ministry.

Police alleged the money from the bank was then used to pay the rent of Raafushi Island in Noonu Atoll, an uninhabited island being developed into a resort by a company shared by the two shareholders, Afeef and Moosa.

Speaking to Minivan News, Hassan Afeef alleged Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz had been bribed and told Minivan News to call Riyaz and “ask him more about it”.

Afeef then referred Minivan News to his lawyers as the case was going to be taken up in court.

Mauroof Zakir Hussein of the Tourism Employment Association of the Maldives (TEAM) said the organisation had not received any complaints from staff at the resort concerning service charge payments.

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Former JSC member ‘Reynis’ Saleem commissioned Afrasheem murder suspect for extortion: police

President Dr Mohamed Waheed’s dismissed representative on the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), Mohamed ‘Reynis’ Saleem, commissioned Azleef Rauf, a suspect in the murder of MP Dr Afrasheem Ali, to retrieve money owed to him, a police investigation has found.

Police revealed the case was forwarded to the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) on June 26, with charges of extortion, theft and damaging private property raised against Saleem, Rauf and three others.

The other suspects were identified as Mohamed Hamid, 26, of Irak in Seenu Meedhoo; Abdulla Saeed, 29, of Autumn Vaadhy in Haa Alif Dhidhoo; and Abdulla Hunaish, 42, of Galolhu Moonlight View in Male’.

The five men are accused of “intimidating and threatening two people over the course of several days saying they owed money, robbing them of their belongings, forcibly taking them places and damaging their property”.

Moreover, the group stole a motorcycle belonging to the victims “to [keep] until they paid”, assaulted the pair, and threatened them at their workplace after forcing their way in and damaging items in their office, according to police.

‘Reynis’ Saleem was sacked from his post at the JSC by President Waheed on June 18 following unsuccessful attempts by police to take the criminal defence lawyer into custody.

The Criminal Court reportedly refused to grant police an arrest warrant earlier this month, a decision backed upon appeal by the High Court.

Saleem was the defence counsel of Deputy Speaker of Parliament Ahmed Nazim in criminal cases involving an alleged scam to defraud the now-defunct Ministry of Atolls Development.

The cases were dismissed by the Criminal Court shortly after the controversial transfer of presidential power on February 7, 2012.

Saleem was sacked by President Waheed a day after the Civil Court issued a court order freezing the bank accounts and holding the passport of Dr Waheed’s running mate and Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Leader, Ahmed Thasmeen Ali.

The court order was issued in a case filed by Deputy Speaker Nazim seeking enforcement of a Civil Court verdict in April 2011 –  upheld by the High Court in April 2013 – ordering the recently appointed running mate to settle an unpaid debt of MVR 1.92 million (US$124,513).

The move followed increasingly fractious relations between Nazim’s Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and the coalition of four parties backing Dr Waheed’s bid for the presidency.

Meanwhile, after he was summoned for questioning by police in May, Saleem denied the allegations of commissioning gangs for extortion.

“The first thing I want to make clear is that I don’t have any links with gangs, or links with any person connected with gangs,” Saleem told local media.

“The question the police asked was whether I had sent a group to collect some money owed to me by someone. I said that I never sent any group to collect any money for me. So if someone owed me money, I would go to court. I shouldn’t have to involve a group,” explained Saleem.

Saleem also denied allegations he had links to the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) officer Azleef Rauf, who was accused of planning the murder of MP Dr Afrasheem Ali by chief suspect Hussein Humam, and was subsequently arrested on May 23.

“A serious question is being raised, about a person named Azleef. When I read the papers today, there were reports about a person named Azleef. Right now is a very critical moment, and they have associated my name with his name. I don’t want any newspaper writing in this manner,” said Saleem.

Saleem claimed that his police summons was politically motivated and related to his current JSC responsibilities, but that he would “disclose details [about the allegation] when the right time comes”.

After initially denying that he murdered the moderate religious scholar and PPM MP, Humam confessed to the crime at a court hearing in May.

According to a previous statement given by Human at a pre-trial detention hearing on December 7, 2012, which was read out by the state prosecutor at court, Human was enlisted by Azleef Rauf to commit the murder.

Human however retracted his confession at the next trial date on June 2, claiming his previous statement was obtained by police through coercion.

Rauf was meanwhile dismissed from the army earlier this month following his arrest in May.

On May 28, the Criminal Court extended Rauf’s detention period while local media reported that he was arrested on charges of mugging.

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Gasim calls for public vigilance over political parties trying to buy MPs

Government-aligned Jumhoree Party (JP) Leader Gasim Ibrahim has accused other political parties of attempting to bribe MPs to jump parties, and boost support for their policies.

Speaking at a rally on the island of Gahdhoo in Gaaf Dhaal Atoll on Friday (June 28), MP and local business tycoon Gasim asked the public to be vigilant against what he alleged were efforts by political parties to “buy” the country.

Gasim noted with particular concern that large sums of money were being paid to MPs by unidentified political parties looking to boost their parliamentary representation and support their respective agendas.

“We hear members change parties for US$2 million,” he was quoted as saying by Haveeru. “Why are they being paid such vast sums to change parties? Why?”

Gasim’s comments were made on the back of widespread media speculation that Ahmed Mahloof, an MP for the fellow government-aligned Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), was looking to switch to the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

JP Spokesperson Moosa Rameez told Minivan News earlier this year that it was “against the values” of the party to offer incentives to encourage MPs to join.

The comments were made after former PPM MP Ilham Ahmed told media that his allegiance was “not for sale”, despite his “love and admiration” for JP Leader Gasim.

MP Ilham later joined the JP in April following the PPM presidential primary vote.

Various political parties have moved to reject claims they offer MPs incentives to back them.  However, NGOs in the country have previously expressed concern at a perceived accountability failure in the Maldives’ democratic system allowing MPs to switch freely between rival parties for personal gain.

Transparency Maldives has claimed the lack of mechanisms for investigating the alleged use of incentives to encourage MPs to transfer to other parties had done very little to “allay fears” among the general public of parliament being a corrupt institution.

Ibrahim Shareef, former Deputy Leader of the government-aligned Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), said in January this year that he did not believe MPs were necessarily having their allegiance bought by rival parties.

However, he said there was realistically “always a temptation” for elected officials to transfer to a party expected to come to power.

Shareef claimed such behaviour was a likely factor in growing public disillusionment with democracy.

Earlier this month, Parliamentary Speaker Abullah Shahid, who switched his allegiance from the DRP to the MDP in April 2013, confirmed that five MPs had recently moved to new parties.

This movement of MPs included Deputy Speaker Ahmed Nazim from the People’s Alliance (PA) going to the PPM, MPs Ahmed Shareef Adam and Ahmed Moosa from PPM to President Dr Mohamed Waheed’s Gaumee Ihthihaad Party (GIP), and MP Ali Azim from the government-aligned Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) to the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

DRP MP Ali Saleem meanwhile left the party to become an Independent MP.

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