Case forwarded to PG alleging corruption charges against former CP Adam Zahir

Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has forwarded a case to the Prosecutor General (PG) accusing former Commissioner of Police Adam Zahir of attainment of undue advantage through use of influence from position during his term of office.

A statement released by the ACC stated an investigation by the commission showed that Adam Zahir had misused more than MVR 65,000 from the Maldives Police Service budget.

ACC continued to reveal that in 2008, while acting as the Commissioner of Police, Adam Zahir had collected an amount of MVR 65,817.70 from the Maldives Police Service budget to purchase a ticket for his wife who had then resided in Manchester, UK, to come back to Maldives to attend an annual function of the Maldives Police Service.

The ACC further revealed that their investigations showed that Adam Zahir’s wife had resided in Male’ on the date of travel stated on the documentation, even though state funds were used to buy a ticket from Manchester to Male’ on Emirates Airlines.

The commission also said that Adam Zahir’s wife had not travelled on Emirates Airlines in 2008, and that the Maldives Police Service had disbursed the funds based on a payment slip issued by Emirate Airlines, but said that there was no way to prove that the passenger had travelled on the date specified on the slip.

While Adam Zahir had approved the disbursal of funds for the ticket, ACC stated that the person who had withdrawn the funds was Adam Zahir himself and that the amounts were removed from the Police budgets for 2008. They also stated that Adam Zahir’s wife had travelled on a chartered flight for tourists, and that withdrawal funds for amounts that were not due, amongst other things, is a deliberate act of corruption.