Case against HDC’s ex-MD Fazul dropped over insufficient evidence of data tampering

The Prosecutor General’s Office has declined charges against Ibrahim Fazul Rasheed, the former managing director of Housing Development Corporation (HDC), and Abdulla Shuhood, the company’s former IT head, over allegations that they permanently deleted documents stored in HDC’s server to cover up their tracks.

The PGO announced the decision to decline charges in the case in a statement on Monday afternoon.

According to the PGO, they decided to decline charges in the case due to “insufficient evidence to successfully prosecute” the case.

Authorities launched an investigation against Fazul and other senior officials from the HDC last year after documents leaked on social media on December 18 appearing to show that multiple people were given land from Hulhumale’ under the ‘Binveriya’ scheme despite not being on the list of recipients released in 2023 during the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) administration.

Amid the scandal, Fazul and Shuhood were accused of obstructing justice by deleting documents on HDC’s serve that could be used as evidence in the case.

In their statement on Monday, the PGO said a report compiled by HDC’s IT Department states that no document or data was deleted or lost from the corporation’s server, and that the police also found no evidence that they deleted any data on the server.

“Therefore, no evidence was found to back the allegations against Ibrahim Fazul Rasheed and Abdulla Shuhood,” reads the statement.

The people who were given land from Hulhumale’ under the ‘Binveriya’ scheme despite not being on the list of recipients included Fazul’s older brother Mohamed Fazeel Rasheed, who was serving as deputy managing director of Male’ Water and Sewerage Company (MWSC) at the time.

Fazul initially denied the allegations against HDC, insisting that the corporation has no involvement in issuing plots under the ‘Binveriya’ scheme.

He also played off the implication of his brother as a mere “coincidence”, and insisted that the situation does not pose a conflict of interest.

Fazul tendered his resignation on December 21, after more documents leaked on social media suggesting multiple individuals were  issued apartments from Vinares by the HDC based on forged payment slips to SeaLife Global after it was decided to compensate victims of the SeaLife scam with the apartments.

In his resignation later, Fazul maintained his innocence but said he decided to resign to “make for the investigation” into the case.

He was replaced with former construction minister Mohamed Mauroof Jameel the next day.

The corruption scandal came amid mounting public frustration over the delay in handover of flats and land awarded under the 'Binveriya' and 'Gedhoruveriya' housing schemes.

But despite the serious allegations of corruption against him, Fazul remains active within the ruling People’s National Congress (PNC).