Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has stated its highest priority in regards to the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations (MMPRC) corruption case is to recover the funds embezzled from the state. The newly appointed members of ACC made the remarks at a press conference held to provide details on the tasks of the commission.
The MMPRC corruption case was previously being investigated by the Presidential Commission on Corruption and Asset Recovery. However, ACC took over the MMPRC case after President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih dissolved the presidential commission in March. The presidential commission had revealed that the funds embezzled from MMPRC were used for political purposes and that the investigation conducted so far estimates the embezzled amount to be around USD220 million.
At the press conference, Vice President of ACC Abdul Salam said the MMPRC case will be the commission’s highest priority and that the investigation will be focused on recovering the embezzled funds. He said 12 investigators are currently assigned to the case, and that they will be working with the Maldives Police Service (MPS) and Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO). He added that ACC will recover the embezzled funds, even if it means amending the relevant laws.
Also at the press conference, Member of ACC Shiyama Mohamed said improvements need to be made to the mechanism used for recovering assets, and that the commission will always prioritise asset recovery in every case. She noted that the weakest aspects of investigations are usually the asset recovery work but assured that ACC will investigate the MMPRC case under a better mechanism for asset recovery.