Court orders travel ban on Bassam until trial end

Criminal Court orders a travel ban of former President of Football Association of Maldives (FAM) Bassam Adeel Jaleel until the ongoing court trial against him on money laundering charges conclude.

While the court has ordered a travel ban on Bassam until his trial's end, he was placed on the no-flying list since December 05th, 2023 until June 2024 earlier.

The state had sought a travel ban on the former FAM President until his trial end later, to which Criminal Court issued its order on Monday.

Bassam had been registered among the attendees for the AFC-FIFA Congress in Thailand held last week. However, he could not attend the event owing to his travel ban.

The FAM ex-President is facing money laundering charges for transferring USD 10,000, extended by FIFA, from the association's accounts to his bank account for personal use, which the Prosecutor General's Office claimed earlier on April 18th, 2024.

 PG earlier claimed its investigations had found Bassam had bought and registered properties after siphoning money from FAM accounts, used the misappropriated funds for his own business ventures, family expenses and for trips abroad.

The office also confirmed it has not completed the investigation on the matter, adding it would be pressing additional charges as the investigation proceeds.

Apart from facing money laundering charges for mishandling FAM funds, Bassam earlier faced allegations of money laundering and graft related to MMPRC, which is currently investigated by Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).