ACC to request court to freeze SOF’s bank account again

Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), on Thursday, has expressed their intention to request the court to issue an order to freeze the bank account of SOF Pvt. Ltd. – used to launder millions stolen from Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) – which currently remains unfrozen.

Sun has been informed the Civil Court issued a warrant to unfreeze the bank account on August 7. This subsequently grants the power to SOF to transfer and deposit money to the account.

ACC’s Senior Communication Officer Nishan Mohamed Didi told Sun on Thursday that the Commission has decided to request the court to freeze SOF’s account once again, as MMPRC graft scandal still remains under investigation.

“Currently checking the balance of the account amongst other information,” he added.

Nishan stressed that the case would be filed with a few days.

Authorities opened an investigation against SOF’s main shareholder, Mohamed Allam Latheef (Moho), in connection to the case during former president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom’s administration.

An Interpol red notice was issued to find Moho and his cohorts, who fled overseas after authorities began their investigation. However, after the current administration came to power, the Prosecutor General’s Office dropped the case against Moho and made him a state witness.

ACC states that the funds embezzled from MMPRC amounts to over MVR 1.4 billion.

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih had constituted an Asset Recovery Commission to probe MMPRC’s graft scandal. However, the Commission has now been dissolved.

The current administration’s failure to recover the stolen funds to date has been strongly criticized by many.