ACC requests prosecution of Hoarafushi’s former council over illegal land allocation to Hawks

The former council of Hoarafushi has been sent to court over the allocation of land to the fuel business.

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has requested the Prosecutor General’s Office (PG Office) to prosecute members of the island’s fourth-term council for illegally allocating land for fuel trading in H.A.Hoarafushi. The ACC forwarded the case to the PG Office on April 20 last year.

The ACC said Wednesday that it has accepted a case filed with the PG Office alleging that the council unlawfully allocated a 5,000-square-foot plot to The Hawks Pvt Ltd for fuel business operations in Hoarafushi.

Charges have been filed against the fourth-term council president Mohamed Waheed, vice-president Ahmed Imdhah, and council members Ibrahim Shakir, Ahmed Rauf, Maryam Vakeela, Aminath Visama and Aminath Nasiha. Imdhah, Rauf and Visama currently serve on the present council as well.

The ACC has filed charges of abuse of official position for obtaining or conferring undue benefit, and acting contrary to state interest in a matter that should have benefited the state.

This land allocation was one of the major violations flagged by the Local Government Authority (LGA) in its inquiry that led to the suspension of then-president Mohamed Waheed for three months without pay.  

The LGA’s report found that the land was allocated to The Hawks without following mandatory procedures, creating “opportunities for corruption.”  The ACC’s move to prosecute indicates the case has now escalated from administrative misconduct to potential criminal liability.