Speaker of the Parliament and former President of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed has said the investigation into the MMPRC graft would fail if foreign auditors are not included in the investigation process. The Speaker made the statement in a tweet posted on Thursday.
In his tweet, Nasheed said he requested for foreign forensic auditors to be included in investigating the scandal. He said that investigations could be properly conducted even in the future by following his suggestion, and the state would fail if it could not raise formal charges against those involved.
It is unknown what prompted Nasheed to tweet regarding the MMPRC scandal unexpectedly.
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih last spoke about the MMPRC scandal while delivering the presidential statement at the opening session of the Parliament for this year. In his address, the President said the Asset Recovery Commission he formed was one of the entities involved in investigating embezzlement and corruption of State assets. He said that the Commission's mandate was mostly focused on investigating the MMPRC scandal, adding that the Commission had decided to submit their findings to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to begin legal proceedings. He expressed hope that members would be appointed to the ACC as soon as the names were forwarded to the Parliament and said that the newly formed ACC would carry out the next phase of the investigation.
The Asset Recovery Commission previously said it compiled a list of 267 individuals said to have profited from the MMPRC scandal. The list includes 44 former parliamentarians, 16 current MPs, 30 past and present senior government officials, five officials who worked at independent institutions, seven officers from the security forces, and five judges. Among these, charges have been raised against only a few.
