PG’s Office to send Nazim fraud cases to the High Court

The Prosecutor General’s (PG) Office has appealed cases concerning the alleged involvement of Deputy Speaker Ahmed Nazim in defrauding the Atolls Development Ministry to the High Court, reports Haveeru.

The case, which was dismissed by the Criminal Court in February, involves a 2004 deal to purchase harbour lights worth Rf1.95 million (US$126,000) on behalf of the now defunct ministry.

The PG’s office has told Haveeru that it intends to appeal a further four cases previously brought against Nazim.

The judge at the time of the dismissals concluded that Nazim’s “acts were not enough to criminalise” him legally.

If Nazim had been found guilty, he would have been ordered to pay a total sum of Rf5,315,618 (US$345,170) paid by the state for the projects and sentenced to between one to six years imprisonment.

Under provision 131 of the penal code, an extra month will be added to the jail sentence for every additional Rf1,000 (US$65)  if the fraudulent transaction exceeds Rf100,000 (US$6,493) .

In an interview with local media outlet Sun following the rulings, Nazim claimed the four cases were baseless and had been leveled at him by former President Mohamed Nasheed’s administration, using false evidence.

“Today we are guaranteed of the existence of an independent and trustworthy judiciary. Former President Nasheed and the MDP will now believe we have an independent judiciary, because they know that the four cases were schemed with manufactured evidence. These are are absolutely untrue and baseless cases,” he said.