President dissolves Corruption and Asset Recovery Commission

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has dissolved the Corruption and Asset Recovery Commission.

President’s Office issued a statement announcing the dissolution of the commission on Thursday.

The Corruption and Asset Recovery Commission was established under presidential decree on November 17, 2018, in one of President Solih’s first acts of office.

The presidential commission was charged with investigating acts of corruption and misuse of public assets and funds which took place between January 1, 2012 and November 17, 2018.

The biggest case the commission investigated was the MMPRC embezzlement and money laundering scandal.

Information released by the state in response to a Right to Information petition filed in December last year showed the Corruption and Asset Recovery Commission spent MVR 9.9 million between 2018 and 2021.

The highest spending was on salaries and allowances. The commission spent MVR 9.1 million on salaries and allowances, and MVR 670,000 on capital expenditure. The highest spending in a single year was in 2019 – when the commission spent over MVR 4 million.

Presidential commissions have been hit with criticism over failure to deliver sufficient results, despite the high salaries and allowances paid to the commissioners.

President Solih had announced his intention of dissolving the Corruption and Asset Recovery Commission while delivering his annual address back in February, stating that the commission will be sharing all its findings with the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), and that all investigations thereafter would be conducted by the ACC.

The dissolution of Corruption and Asset Recovery Commission comes the same day President appointed new members to the ACC.