Former FAM chief Bassam sentenced to four years in prison

Bassam Adeel Jaleel, the former president of the Football Association of Maldives (FAM), has been sentenced to four years in prison for corruption.

The case against Bassam stems from the allegation that in 2018, he deposited USD 10,000 in funds provided to FAM by the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) to his personal bank account under the pretense of having it exchanged for Rufiyaa. However, a police investigation uncovered he never provided an equivalent amount of Rufiyaa in exchange for the US dollars, but prepared a fake paper trail to make it appear like he did.

The state charged Bassam with three charges in the case; one count of corruption and two counts of money laundering.

On Wednesday, the Criminal Court Judge Ismail Shafeeu found Bassam guilty of corruption in the case, and sentenced him to four years in prison.

Meanwhile, the verdict over the money laundering charges is being delivered on a later date.

The minimum sentencing requirement for the corruption charge is one year and seven months.

However, the judge, citing the high amount of money transfers to Bassam’s bank account that do not correspond with his salary, rejected his appeal for a lighter sentence and used his discretion to issue a lengthier sentence of four years in prison.

The police launched a special investigation into the FAM on October 22, 2023, on orders from the then-prosecutor general Hussain Shameem.

This investigation uncovered multiple incidents of corruption, including in 2021, when Bassam allegedly embezzled USD 1 million out of an USD 1.9 million loan provided by FIFA to disburse funds to football clubs during the Covid-19 pandemic, and used it to purchase luxury apartments in Hulhumale’.