The two luxury apartments at Amin Avenue, purchased by former Football Association of Maldives (FAM) president Bassam Adeel Jaleel, have been handed over to the police after the agency had warned that they would legally seize the properties if not handed over by 12:00 pm Tuesday night.
The apartments at Hulhumalé were handed over at 12:00 pm Tuesday night; right on the deadline set by the the police.
Police had originally documented evidence for the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) in connection with the purchase of the two apartments at Amin Avenue, which Jaleel acquired using funds misappropriated from FIFA.
A case was subsequently filed, in addition to Jaleel, against the owner of Amin Avenue, Amin Construction; the then head of the FAM’s financial department, Mohamed Ageel; as well as Hassan Waheed, who was then in charge of the FAM and later became chairman of Valencia.
The police investigation revealed that Jaleel had spent US$1 million—a portion of a US$1.9 million FIFA COVID Loan to the FAM—to purchase the apartments at Amin Avenue.
Jaleel is alleged to have misappropriated the loan funds to purchase the apartments at Amin Avenue across three payments.
As part of the investigation, Jaleel’s passport has been withheld until the completion of the fraud and money laundering case filed by the PGO in February this year.