The Maldives Customs Service has confirmed that no officer involved in an ongoing investigation into allegations of money laundering, embezzlement, and bribery against several of its employees has retired. It has been noted that 400 million rufiyaa have circulated through the accounts of three Customs employees. Following the emergence of this case, the police stated that they are investigating the matter.
“Following the police’s attention to a case of suspected money laundering, embezzlement, and bribery by Maldives Customs Service employees, the investigation was initiated by the Maldives Police Service on August 19, 2024,” the police said. Customs today said that they have been informed that the police are conducting an investigation into money laundering, embezzlement, and bribery allegations against some Customs officers.
“And we inform you that none of the officers included in the investigation, as informed by the Maldives Police Service, have been retired from this service,” Customs said. It is understood that the Parliament’s 241 Committee is also conducting a separate investigation into this matter. It is believed that the committee has questioned senior officials from relevant government agencies regarding this issue.
The Deputy Speaker of the Parliament, Ahmed Nazim, has stated that they cannot rely on uniformed institutions. He also said that once the cases being investigated by the 241 Committee are concluded, solutions will be proposed for issues such as drug-related matters as well.
