The #AdeebFiles: buried evidence of how the Maldives became a kleptocracy

When the 2,973-page report was finally leaked last Saturday, the 81,167 messages from 2014 revealed a powerful tourism minister acting as a personal ATM for lawmakers, judges, soldiers, police officers, business elites, film stars and heads of independent institutions, all obliviously texting their way into the evidence files of what would become the country's biggest corruption scandal.

Adeeb's phone records were previously featured in Al Jazeera's Stealing Paradise corruption exposé on the theft of US$ 80 million from the lease of islands for resort development. The documentary aired in September 2016. It showed Adeeb declaring himself "the boss of all gangs in the Maldives," arranging the release of suspects in the abduction of Maldives Independent journalist Ahmed Rilwan, and controlling members of the Anti-Corruption Commission, one of whom appeared to have been engaged in an affair with him. A former prosecutor general and Supreme Court justice declared absolute loyalty to the vice president whilst Adeeb ordered the police commissioner to "blast" the Raajje TV studios and "light up" the Auditor General's office. 

But the report by UK forensic firm Faraday Forensics, which retrieved files from Adeeb's iPhone in 2015, was never made public until now.

"In a democracy, voters reserve the right to be fully informed before coming to a decision. Hence the release of the file in its entirety. Also because governments are using these documents to blackmail people," Jubraan Shareef, the anonymous X user who leaked the report, told the Maldives Independent.

"This document is just the tip of the iceberg."

The report does not contain all of the data from Adeeb's three phones, which covered a longer period spanning his elevation to the vice presidency in July 2015 and subsequent arrest and impeachment in October 2015 over an alleged bomb plot to assassinate then-president Abdulla Yameen. 

The leaked report was not the "raw document" as it does not include any photos, Jubraan noted. "We removed all of these images due to the high volume of nude pictures," he said. 

He called for the full disclosure of evidence in the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) scandal as those implicated included "people we vote for in elections and running our highest courts."

Jubraan accused the Prosecutor General's office of complicity in a cover-up by "picking and choosing who to prosecute based on the whims of the government at the time."

In one of his final acts in office, former president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih – who came to power in November 2018 with promises of accountability and asset recovery – pardoned Adeeb and former MMPRC managing director Abdulla Ziyath.

In addition to funds embezzled from the MMPRC, a presidential commission set up under the Maldivian Democratic Party-led government calculated US$ 142.5 million in revenue foregone from leasing 37 islands below market prices. In 2019, the number of beneficiaries of the stolen money grew from 155 to almost 300. However, not a single dollar was recovered.

After a decade of impunity under three administrations, public outrage is erupting over the #AdeebFiles. Aside from the many desperate pleas for cash, gifts and favours from Adeeb by individuals who remain in office, the incriminating messages include evidence of what appears to be solicitation involving minors.

The revelations now consuming Maldivian social media beg the question: has grand corruption become so normalised, culturally embedded and consequence-free that a floundering democracy has crossed the line into kleptocracy?

A kleptocracy is a form of government where leaders systematically steal from their own country's resources and wealth for personal gain.

In widely-reported remarks in April, MP Ahmed Saleem from the ruling People's National Congress suggested that lawmakers were to blame for the failure to bring perpetrators to justice in cases of graft over the past 15 years. 

"What’s lacking is courage," according to the chair of the public accounts oversight committee. MP Abdul Ghafoor Moosa from the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party echoed the concern over the lack of convictions in high-profile cases. “The system is shaped for corruption,” Ghafoor said. 

In early August, Deputy Speaker Ahmed Nazim – who has been spearheading a probe into a US$ 23 million police housing graft – alleged illicit enrichment by members of independent bodies. 

The unusual agreement across the partisan divide represents a startling consensus about systemic corruption. Reflecting resignation over the status quo, the public's response has been muted to corruption scandals that came to light in recent weeks, including the suspected misappropriation of inauguration funds, MPs' asset disclosures revealing millions in mysterious gifts, and a ruling party lawmaker paying off a debt with MVR 1.7 million (US$ 110,200) in cash. 

At a rally of his People's National Front in late August, former president Yameen argued that other opposition leaders seeking the presidency in 2028 are unable to "come out" against allegedly rampant corruption under President Dr Mohamed Muizzu because they are all "compromised" and caught in the same web.

He referred to US$ 18 million paid as compensation to Jumhooree Party leader Qasim Ibrahim's Villa Air for the government takeover of the Kaadehdhoo airport, alleging the waiver of US$ 30 million in taxes.

An MVR 631 million project awarded without a bidding process to Maldives National Party leader Mohamed Nazim's Rasheed Carpentry and Construction (RCC) – brother of the Malé mayor and uncle of Attorney General Ahmed Usham – was wildly inflated, Yameen claimed, estimating the actual cost of building 55 council offices to be MVR 225 million.  

Meanwhile, in early 2020, the MDP government awarded a lucrative contract to a "paper company" in Dubai to procure 75 ventilators with the intention of "deliberately stealing," he contended, referring to the loss of MVR 32 million when the emergency medical supplies never arrived. A US$ 810,000 taken as a "15 percent cut" for the deal was in a Bank of Ceylon account in Sri Lanka that belongs to the son of a senior MDP government official, Yameen alleged.

Yameen also claimed to know of a "senior" politician who pays rent for Adeeb's apartment in Dubai. "Why is it that guardianship of Adeeb has fallen to this person?" he asked, citing bank transactions records allegedly in his possession.  

In a more recent interview with Adhadhu, Yameen accused Adeeb of refusing to return US$ 5 million collected as campaign contributions from various well-wishers, including Middle Eastern donors. 

Asked whether the Maldives has become a kleptocracy, Azza Mohamed, governance manager of anti-corruption NGO Transparency Maldives, pointed to the country's steady decline in the Corruption Perceptions Index, down from 43 out of 100 in 2020 to 38 in 2024.

"Scores in the middle of the index indicate more complex challenges such as grand corruption, which includes the abuse of high-level power that benefits the few at the expense of the many," she explained. Azza identified weak investigation, prosecution and enforcement as well as unchecked abuse of power, a lack of transparency and gaps within the legal framework as key factors.

MDP MP Mauroof Zakir attributed the problem to a legacy of unresolved state-sponsored corruption. 

"Every person steals and leaves. It is not looked into later on. From the very beginning I think, not just recently. This has been happening for a long time," he told the Maldives Independent.

MP Abdulla Rifau from the ruling PNC stressed the need for more independent lawmakers unaffiliated with any political party, whose control over parliament and independent commissions he suggested was detrimental.

But he offered a more nuanced view of wider problem, arguing that corruption exists at two levels – "when one side offers and the other side accepts" – a problem exacerbated by the small size of the population. "Being a small nation makes it easier to target the right person and have a connection," he observed. Refusing relatives' requests becomes difficult in such a close-knit society, he added.

The public's misunderstanding of MPs' roles compounds the issue, he suggested. "Many people see an MP's role like a father figure. Even when going to vote, they make requests like 'give me a job.' But in reality, where do we give jobs from?" he asked.

Rifau said the solution requires both systemic reform and cultural change. Only one-third of Maldivian voters think independently, he estimated. The rest are influenced by family, party, or money. "The constitution and laws in the Maldives are very complete. However, the issue is enforcement," he said. Without proper implementation and the fear of punishment, "they do not feel the need to stop."

Civic education must start from childhood, he added, to help young people understand the damage corruption inflicts on the entire community.

MP Mauroof, a leader of the tourism workers' association, proposed a more revolutionary mobilisation of ordinary people as the solution: "By unionising, taking the powers of the country into the hands of the working class. We have to fight against the capitalists, only then can we end this corruption. The corrupted big politicians and businesses are too powerful now."