Ex-central bank governor blamed for inaction over corruption scandal

Ibrahim Athif Shakoor told parliament’s public accounts oversight committee that he had alerted former governor Azeema Adam on at least four occasions to unusually large transactions by SOF, a local company that was used to funnel the bulk of US$90 million stolen from the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation during the previous administration.

When the FIU learned of an MVR40 million (US$2.5 million) cheque issued to the MMPRC being deposited to SOF’s bank account, Athif said the governor suggested the transaction might have been legitimate.

According to Athif – who was in charge of the Financial Intelligence Unit from November 2014 to June 2015 – Azeema did not explicitly tell him not to notify the police as required by the anti-money laundering law.