Anti-graft watchdog seeks charges to recover MVR108m

The Anti-Corruption Commission is seeking criminal prosecution of a government official to recover MVR108.7 million (US$7 million).

After closing 288 cases during the first quarter of 2018, the ACC said Tuesday that it has forwarded four cases to the Prosecutor General’s office to press charges against five male government employees.

The unnamed officials are facing charges on three counts of providing an undue advantage, one count of personal gain, and two counts of “acting in a manner which precludes an advantage to public or state.”

One of the five faces a charge of “recompensing government loss” over the MVR108.7 million owed to the state.

The four cases involve a total of MVR130 million, the watchdog noted. No further details were provided.

The ACC has been under fire after a secret police statement leaked online raised questions over the integrity and independence of its president.

In 2017, the ACC sent fewer than one percent of cases for prosecution. In its annual report, the commission blamed the Prosecutor General’s office and other state institutions, saying there was a lack of coordination and cooperation.

But the PG office hit back saying its lawyers attended to all the cases forwarded by the ACC last year, adding that some cases were rejected due to procedural reasons.

Last October the NGO, Transparency Maldives, said only one corruption-related case reached conviction between 2010 and 2014, despite 175 cases being submitted for prosecution by the ACC.