PGO to Appeal Court Ruling Clearing Amin Construction of Money Laundering Charges

The Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) has said it intends to appeal a Criminal Court ruling which found that money laundering charges against Amin Construction were not proven in connection with the misuse of funds belonging to the Football Association of Maldives (FAM).

In a statement, the PGO said the Criminal Court’s decision was inconsistent with judicial and legal principles, noting that the same court had convicted former FAM president Bassam Adeel Jaleel of money laundering linked to the same transaction. The PGO argued that while the court accepted the occurrence of money laundering, it found the related charges against Amin Construction had not been sufficiently established.

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The Criminal Court ruled yesterday that prosecutors had failed to prove that Amin Construction facilitated money laundering in connection with transactions involving FAM funds. The case centred on the alleged purchase of two apartments at Amin Avenue using association funds during Bassam’s tenure as FAM president.

According to the prosecution, approximately USD 1.2 million belonging to FAM was deposited with Amin Construction to be exchanged into Maldivian rufiyaa. The court heard that the funds were later handed over in cash to Hassan Waheed, an employee of FAM who was also charged in the case.

Prosecutors alleged that Amin Construction prepared cash vouchers to suggest the money had been returned to FAM, while the funds were never deposited into any FAM bank account and were instead used to purchase an apartment for Bassam. Amin Construction acknowledged receiving the dollars but denied allegations that the funds were misappropriated or used to pay for Bassam’s property.

In his ruling, Judge Mohammed Misbah said there was no evidence to show that the cash handed over to Hassan Waheed was used to purchase the apartment. He noted that the prosecution relied largely on similarities between the amount transferred and the purchase price, but found there was no documentation demonstrating that the funds were deposited with Amin Construction for the purpose of acquiring the property.

Despite the ruling in favour of Amin Construction, the Criminal Court later sentenced Bassam to 23 years’ imprisonment for fraud and money laundering linked to the misuse of COVID-19 relief funds provided by FIFA.

The court found that Bassam had embezzled and laundered USD 1.2 million sent by FIFA to FAM as a relief loan for football clubs affected by the pandemic. Prosecutors said the misappropriated funds were used to purchase two penthouse apartments at Amin Avenue.

Bassam is already serving a nine-year prison sentence for earlier fraud and money laundering convictions. With the latest sentence, his total prison term now stands at 32 years. The court also ordered him to repay USD 1.2 million within six months and imposed a fine of MVR 44.7 million.