Maldives Police Service have revealed that 44 parliament members of the 18th Parliament and 16 members on the current parliament received funds in the MMPRC corruption.
The official audit report into the MMPRC scandal revealed that over US$ 79 million was embezzled through the state tourism promotion company, Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC).
In a joint press conference held by the Police, Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) and Asset Recovery Commission on Thursday, Assistant Police Commissioner Mohamed Riyaz said the funds embezzled through MMPRC began circulating before the 2014 parliamentary election.
Riyaz said while it was previously understood that 177 individuals received funds from the MMPRC graft, new data shows this number to be 267.
They include seven government officials of the current administration, 16 members of the current parliament, and eight judges currently employed in Maldivian courts, said Riyaz.
Riyaz revealed that embezzled funds were used to fund party primaries and campaigns of those who won the primaries. Funds from the graft were also used to influence important parliament votes such as that to elect a parliament speaker, to bring amendments to the constitution, and to appoint people to government position.
Some members who defected to other political parties were also recipients of these funds, said Riyaz.
"The funds were used out to issue verdicts against political figures, as assistance to to government officials, to pay duty fees for their businesses, to pay for trips abroad, medical and otherwise", said Riyaz.
Riyaz further said funds were given to police and MNDF as "sponsorships", and also used to organize government events.
Riyaz said previously unknown evidences have now been uncovered, with the police coming in possession of phones and laptops belonging to the heads of SOF Pvt Ltd, the private company through which the embezzled funds were funneled.
"We now have opportunities we did not previously in carrying out our investigation. We are now in the possession of emails, phones, laptops and messages of people within SOF. We have additional data and evidence that can unravel this complex financial crime", he said.
President of the Assert Recovery Commission Ahmed As'ad said it can be concluded from available data that the embezzled funds were used to influence high government officials.
"This includes the parliament, the government, independent entities, all branches of the state. It is with deep sadness that I say even the media and private organisations are involved. In other words, the whole society was involved in carrying out this graft", said As'ad.
As'ad said the top priority of the investigation is to identify those who received hard cash in the scandal. While there are obstacles to identifying this type of transactions, the dates of the transactions are being cross-referenced with events that took place in the country at the time, said As'ad.
Answering a reporter's question regarding government heads and MPs implicated in the scandal, As'ad said every name that comes up in the investigation has to be scrutinized.
While there is opportunity for someone to have received funds unbeknownst to them that they were corruption funds, all allegations against a person must be thoroughly investigated to gather enough evidence to prove their intentional involvement in a court of law, noted As'ad.
"We are seeing some people being worried and concerned. We are asking you to keep calm. Just because we are looking into names we come across does not mean they are guilty. If a name pops up, we will follow the lead and investigate. Again, that does not mean the person is guilty. Everyone has the opportunity to come to us and give information instead of being irate", said As'ad.
Speaking at the press conference, Commissioner of Police Mohamed Hameed said no names of suspected individuals will be disclosed at the moment due to ongoing investigation.
Although the CP has stated as such, Prosecutor General Aishath Bisham recently revealed the names of some involved government officials at the Parliament's Public Accounts Committee.
At the committee meeting held Monday, Bisham said in addition to some members of the 19th parliament, cabinet ministers, judges, and former MPs are implicated in the scandal according to the investigative report into the graft. The meeting was changed to a closed door session following the revelation.
However, some names mentioned at the committee were revealed during two Parliament sittings held this week. The opposition has alleged that the government intends to dismiss the three cabinet members who are said to be involved in the graft. They are Communications Minister Mohamed Maleeh Jamaal, Fisheries Minister Zaha Waheed and Youth Minister Ahmed Mahloof.
