ACC annual report: MVR 33 million spent, 14 cases sent for prosecution

Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has released its annual report for 2016 which shows it spent MVR 33 million and sent 14 cases for prosecution.

ACC said it completed investigating 829 cases in 2016, out of which 14 cases were forwarded to the Prosecutor General’s Office.

Prosecutor General’s Office rejected and sent back 70 cases sent for prosecution by ACC over different years; 18 of the cases required further investigation and 11 of the cases were rejected on lack of grounds for criminal prosecution.

ACC also made 332 recommendations in 2016 regarding multiple cases.

When asked about the reason for the large number of cases sent back by Prosecutor General’s Office, Vice President of ACC, Muawwiz Rasheed said the purpose of the commission was not to prosecute people, but to investigate cases and take measures in cases of corruption.

855 cases were filed with ACC corruption in 2016 alone, while the commission has over 2,000 cases still pending.

President of ACC, Hassan Luthufy said the commission made considerable achievement in 2016 despite having to face massive challenges.

Luthufy said the commission will be paying special attention to major cases of corruption this year.