Akram and three others face charges for misuse of authority in award of ‘Gedhoruveriya’ flats

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Tuesday asked the Prosecutor General’s Office to charge former state minister for housing Akram Kamaluddin and three others with misuse of authority in the award of flats under former administration’s ‘Gedhoruveriya’ housing scheme.

‘Gedhoruveriya’ is a social housing scheme that was launched by the former Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) administration. The first 4,000 units under the project was built in Hulhumale’ Phase II by the Fahi Dhiriulhun Corporation (FDC). The MDP administration released the list of recipients of the first 4,000 flats in its last days. However, the list drew the scrutiny of the ACC, following allegations of irregularities and corruption in the award of the flats.

The ACC has been conducting a joint investigation with the police into allegations that government officials misused their authority to unfairly add people to the list of recipients.

In a statement on Tuesday afternoon, the ACC said the investigation has uncovered enough evidence for charges against Akram and three other former Housing Ministry officials.

The other three individuals are:

• Mohamed Arif, former senior executive at the Housing Ministry
• Shiruam Waheed, former senior executive at the Housing Ministry
• Ahmed Vishan Naseem, former director general at the Housing Ministry

According to the ACC, it asked the PGO to charge all four with misuse of official authority to obtain a benefit for another person under Section 513 (b) of the Penal Code.

The ACC added that they remain under investigation and are suspected of additional crimes.

Speaking to Sun, Akram alleged that the decision to pursue criminal charges against him was influenced by President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu.

He denies any wrongdoing and said that there are simply no grounds for criminal charges against him.

“I have done nothing wrong. I have not done anything irregular. The decision to continue with the award of flats is evidence of this. There may be some administrative errors. But such administrative [errors] are nothing new,” he said.

The corruption watchdog had ordered for the suspension of the issuance of ‘Gedhoruveriya’ flats as it investigated the case, before finally giving the Housing Ministry the go-ahead to proceed in February 2024, after which the Housing Ministry initiated a lengthy review of applications.

The incumbent administration released the new list on February 27, after a verification process that lasted over a year. But following verification, only 1,820 out of 4,939 people on the original list were deemed as rightful recipients. At the time, Housing Minister Dr. Abdulla Muthalib said that the main reason 53 percent of the applicants who made it on the original list of recipients were declared eligible was because of issues with documents submitted to prove 15-year residency in Male’.

But following public concern over the issue, Muthalib announced on May 29 that the government will issue the flats based on the list released on November 15, 2023, and will not release another list.