Football Association of Maldives (FAM) President Bassam Adeel Jaleel has been banned from leaving the country while under investigation for corruption, money laundering and misappropriation of funds, the authorities revealed on Tuesday.
The court ordered the seizure of Jaleel’s passport after he was deemed a flight risk.
The Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) said it would seek to file charges soon after completing a review of the extensive information they had gathered on FAM. There is clear evidence of malfeasance based on FAM’s bank statements, the PGO confirmed.
Police, acting on the orders of the Prosecutor General, launched an investigation and raided the FAM offices last month, seizing a large number of documents, server backups, and hard disks.
The FAM said in a statement that there was no fraud committed by anyone at the association and that accusations were trumped up by others to take advantage of the situation for personal gain.
Many have been calling for Jaleel’s resignation even before investigations were launched into FAM’s alleged illegal activities.