Ex-MMPRC head Ziyath sentenced to 11 years in prison

Former Managing Director of Maldives Marketing and Public Corporation (MMPRC) Abdulla Ziyath has been sentenced to 11 years in prison in a hearing at the Criminal Court today, for his involvement in the MMPRC scandal. 

Ziyath had entered into an agreement with the prosecutors whereby he plead guilty to all 32 charges filed against him with the Criminal Court.

The 32 charges in question, as well as the Maabinhura case, are connected to the MMPRC graft case, both the State and Ziyath are in agreement that contesting the Maabinhura conviction with the Supreme Court while confessing to the other 32 charges at the Criminal Court will prove contradictory in nature.

Ziyath had said in a previous court hearing that he had personally received the cheques related to the scandal, but had not benefited financially from them. 

He said that the cheques were then handed over to other parties upon the instructions of former Vice President Ahmed Adeeb who had told him that the funds were used for government work.

Ziyath was sentenced to 11 years in today’s sentencing hearing. The amount of funds he had been involved in embezzling is believed to be around MVR 700 million. 

The Criminal Court is still handing out the sentences of each verdict for the 32 charges as per the law which requires separate sentences for each verdict of each charge. 

Ziyath has been previously convicted of embezzling the funds obtained from the lease of Lh. Maabinhuraa and sentenced to a period of eight years in prison. He is serving the sentence under house arrest and has served five years of the sentence.