Suood apologizes to Villa and Universal

Attorney Husnu Suood said on Tuesday that his statement that corrupt money from Maldives Marketing and Public relations Corporation (MMPRC) went into bank accounts of Villa Shipping and Universal Enterprises was made due to an error when he was provided the information from Allam Latheef’s SOF Private Limited; and apologized for his mistake.

“Transfers made to bank accounts of companies associated with Villa and Universal were payments for sale of products and services provided to SOF Private Limited,” said Suood.

Suood issued a statement saying that his erroneous statement was made because of inaccurate information on details of the money transferred to Villa and Universal, provided by a director of SOF Private Limited.

Suood said that SOF Private Limited had later said, after Villa and Universal denied the allegation against them, that money transferred to the accounts of companies related to the two companies were payments they were due.

“Therefore I revise the information revealed earlier, and make this statement to reveal the truth,” he said. “And I offer my sincere apologies to the damaged parties due to the error in the information.”

MMPRC corruption scandal is the biggest such case in Maldivian history, with over USD 79 million (MVR 1.22 billion) pocketed.