Corruption case filed against Adhaalath Party

A case was filed at the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Monday alleging misappropriation of funds from the Islamic ministry by three high-profile members of the Adhaalath Party, including Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed, state minister of Islamic affairs.

In his letter to the ACC, Mohamed Raaidh from G. New Moon in Male’, alleged that Shaheem, Sheikh Ilyas Hussein and Sheikh Ibrahim Rushdie each received Rf15,300 from an Islamic ministry account.

The letter alleges the money came from account number 410 of the Islamic ministry’s account at the Maldives Monetary Authority, which is used to deposit both domestic and international aid to promote Islam.

ACC Vice President Muaviz Rasheed confirmed to Minivan News that a letter had been sent today but said he was unable to provide details at this early stage of the investigation.

Ahmadullah Jameel, assistant director general at the ministry, denied the allegations in the letter.

“No member of the Adhaalath Party has been given money from the Islamic ministry,” said Ahmadullah. “This is propaganda spread by certain people to ruin people’s reputations.”

Adhaalath Party President Sheikh Hussein Rasheed Hassan said the funds were from the World Islamic Call Society (WICS) for four people, the three party members and a Qur’an teacher to participate in an international meeting.

The WICS is a non-profit body, composed of more than 250 Islamic organisations from around the world, funded by the Libyan government.

The Libyan government sent the funds with the names of the recipients to the Maldivian government, said Rasheed.

“I think it was about US$250 each,” he said.

Rasheed said the money was received by the foreign ministry and forwarded to the finance ministry. He added the Islamic ministry’s finance section asked the finance ministry to deposit the money in their account.

“It’s actually got nothing to do with the Islamic ministry,” he said.

Rasheed claimed the main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) were behind the allegations.

The Adhaalath Party are a member of the coalition government and are in charge of running the affairs of the Islamic ministry.

“DRP is a name for the corruption party. If you look into any money that’s been stolen, you’ll find them at the bottom,” he alleged. “So they’re trying to spread these lies and ruin people’s reputations.”

But DRP Secretary General Abdulla Mausoom told Minivan News today that the allegations were unfounded.

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