Charges sought against ex-Maldive Gas MD for accepting bribe in cooking gas purchase

Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), on Monday, requested the Prosecutor General’s Office (PG Office) to file charges against former managing director Maldive Gas Private Limited Abdulla Maumoon alleging the involvement of bribery in a transaction related to cooking gas that took place under his management.  

ACC, in a statement on Monday, said the bribery was noticed in a case investigated at the commission’s own initiative.

In this regard, ACC said their investigations showed that Maumoon had accepted a bribe of MVR 3,106,189.30 from a foreign company which Maldive Gas purchased cooking gas from; money which they have linked to the bank accounts of people suspected to be acquainted with Maumoon and people who are familiarly linked to Maumoon.

Henceforth, ACC is seeking seven charges against Maumoon:

• Accepting a bribe in relation to a government undertaking
• Gaining an undue advantage by leveraging the influence of a position
• Attempt to commit a crime under Maldives’ Penal Codd
• Conspiring to commit a crime
• Agreeing to accept a bribe
• Gaining and providing an advantage by misusing official capacity

In their statement, ACC said they have also decided to recover the monies lost to the state under this case.

Maldive Gas has previously come under fire over corruption-related allegations pertaining to the company’s financial transactions.