President Mohamed Muizzu has denied allegations of corruption made against him by the opposition, calling at least one of the recently leaked reports a “supposed draft” prepared by the police in connection with deposits into his personal account.
“A draft report, a supposed police report, it is a draft, it has no stamp or date, they have structured it as they want. If they had found it [corruption] wouldn’t they have [charged me]? They [MDP] have been in power for the last five years,” Muizzu said referring to the opposition and the allegations made against him.
The President’s comments came after the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and People’s National Front (PNF) on Tuesday called for a probe into allegations of corruption by Muizzu during his tenure as the Minister of Housing within the Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom administration.
Opposition calls were ignited after social media posts from an anonymous account, operating under the handle ‘Hassan Kurusee’, alleged corruption during Muizzu’s tenure as Yameen’s housing minister.
The account—critical of President Muizzu and his administration—released documents claimed to be from the police and the Maldives Monetary Authority’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), which purported to detail transactions indicative of corruption, while additionally accusing the president of money laundering and fraud.
PNF’s Interim Senate Member, and former Vice President Mohamed Jameel Ahmed, in a press briefing, called on the press to not take the documents accusing Muizzu of corruption lightly, adding that the administration should answer to the allegations.
“I call on the MDP and members of parliament to submit this issue to parliament. By submitting it, we should hold an emergency meeting of parliament to debate the issue before going to the [parliamentary] elections… This is not an allegation against someone from the streets. And these are no ordinary allegations,” Ahmed, who was prematurely ousted from the Vice Presidency during the Yameen administration, said.
“I think Muizzu should hand over the responsibility of his post to the Vice President [Hussain Mohamed Lateef]. He should be isolated from responsibility until he is cleared of these allegations and the case is investigated,” Ahmed said.
In a subsequent MDP parliamentary campaign press conference, the main opposition party also called on independent institutions to investigate the allegations against President Muizzu.
“We are very concerned over the details that large amounts of money were deposited into Muizzu’s personal account while he was a minister,” MDP parliamentary campaign spokesperson Ahmed Easa said.
“I believe that independent institutions should look into these issues in a responsible manner and clarify the truth to the people… If the allegations made on social media against President Muizzu are true, it falls on the Parliament to remove the President from office,” Easa went on to say.
The president, while discrediting the reports, also said that the leak was for political gain as the opposition had lost hope for the parliamentary elections. He had not done anything which was illegal, Muizzu said.
“You are still trying to put something on me, and what has not happened before will not happen now. There is nothing you can show against me, even if you search high and low,” he said.
However, local news agency ‘Adhadhu’, citing a report published by the agency on 2 September 2023 regarding funds deposited to Muizzu’s account between 1 February 2017 and 15 October 2018, has confirmed the reports as authentic. The FIU report in question is from 2018 and, according to ‘Adhadhu’, this is the first in recent times such a report has been leaked.
The president, in response, said the funds were from renting out his house to foreign companies as well as money inherited from his late father.
“I just want you to talk loudly, the more you talk, the more you are exposed,” Muizzu said, referring to critics and the opposition.
No state agency has yet commented on the matter.