Supreme court judge accused of forging identity documents

The Maldivian Democratic Party has called for Supreme Court Judge Ali Hameed to be investigated for forgery over apparent inconsistencies of age in his identity documents.

Copies of Hameed’s documents that recently surfaced on social media suggest that his birth date was revised from 1958 to 1964.

‘Funama’ Adam Manik, an MDP member, alleged that officials from President Abdulla Yameen’s government were involved in the forgery. “This could not have been done without the help of government officials,” Manik said.

Copies of Hameed’s passport dating back to 2008 showed his date of birth as October 14, 1958 while the other from 2013 showed the same to be September 25, 1964.

Manik said he had filed a complaint with the Anti-Corruption Commission in May, but the watchdog said it did not have the authority to launch a probe.

He approached the Prosecutor General’f office today to secure an order for the ACC to look into the case.

“The Ali Hameed that we have seen and the age stated in his ID card and passport are very different. It almost makes us wonder if this is the same Ali Hameed,” he added.

In a letter to the PG’s office, Manik accused the judge of misusing his position to influence the officials and register false information with them, a criminal offense under anti-corruption laws.

The spokesman for the department of judicial administration directed queries of comment to the Judicial Services Commission, a watchdog body now headed by Hameed.

The JSC spokesman declined to comment immediately.

Hameed has been involved in multiple controversies over the years.

In 2010, the government had charged him for corruption over the illegal transfer of credit from his state-funded mobile phone.

A year after the scandal, the criminal court asked prosecutors to resend all files concerning Hameed’s alleged misuse of state funds after case documents were destroyed in a coffee spill.

The case remains stalled.

In 2013, videos featuring a man that appears to be Hameed having sex with three foreign women in a hotel room in Colombo found their way online. The videos caused a political firestorm as fornication outside marriage is a criminal offense.

The JSC set up committees to investigate the case twice – in May and December 2013. Both of the committees recommended that the JSC suspend Hameed pending an investigation.

The JSC, however, cleared him off the charges of misconduct stating that there wasn’t “enough evidence” to prosecute him.

Hameed now heads the commission.

Another video that had leaked around the same time seems to show Hameed and a local businessman discussing politicians influencing the judiciary.

In the video, Hameed is seen talking about his political relationship with the president. He suggests that he was one of Yameen’s “back-ups” and that his stand was “to do things the way Yameen wants.”

“Even [then Speaker of Parliament] Abdulla Shahid will know very well that my stand is to do things the way Yameen wants. The fall of [Mohamed Nasheed led] government was brought with our participation,” he is seen saying.

Hameed then boasts that he was someone who “even Yameen cannot play with” and that over time he had “shown Yameen” who he was.