Criminal Court of the Maldives has sentenced former Managing Director of Maldives Marketing and Public Corporation (MMPRC) Abdulla Ziyath to 11 years in prison over corruption and embezzlement charges.
The state pressed 32 charges against Ziyath for embezzling state funds acquired from the lease of islands and lagoons for tourism development through MMPRC. Ziyath had pleaded guilty to all 32 charges as part of a plea deal agreement he signed with the state.
Ziyath alone is alleged to have been involved in the embezzlement of USD 50.6 million. During the last hearing of the trial, Ziyath had admitted to receiving cheques privately and handing them over to parties specified by former Vice President Ahmed Adeeb. However, Ziyath said he had not received any of the embezzled funds.
While the punishment for each of the charges pressed against Ziyath is a prison sentence of 7 years, state attorneys have explained that the new Penal Code specifies that the punishment for repetitive charges will decrease exponentially if the charges are pressed together.