Ungoofaaru MP sentenced to four years in banishment

Criminal Court has today sentenced Ungoofaaru MP Ibrahim Ameen to four years and six months in banishment for acts of fraud.

MP Ameen was found guilty for fraudulent dealings involving a sum of MVR 36,818 from the island’s power house, during his tenure as the accountant of the Ungoofaaru Island Office between 2006 and 2004.

MP Ameen is the younger brother of late Ungoofaaru MP Dr Afrasheem Ali, the religious scholar who was brutally stabbed and murdered on the night of 1 October 2012. MP Ameen secured the Ungoofaaru seat by winning the by-election to fill the vacancy left by Dr Afrasheem's passing.

During the trial, MP Ameen insisted that the Anti-Corruption Commission’s audit of the power house was incorrect.

However, in its sentence today, the Criminal Court said that Ameen could not disprove the accuracy of the Anti-Corruption Commission’s report and that Ameen had failed to explained to the Anti-Corruption Commission what had happened to the money that he was held responsible.

MP Ameen has also been ordered to pay the amount of money in question to Civil Court, within one month from today.