Criminal Court: Judge Misbaah doesn’t feel he has to recuse himself in Mahloof’s case

Criminal Court has informed the Prosecutor General’s Office that the presiding judge in Youth Minister Ahmed Mahloof’s bribery case, Judge Mohamed Misbaah, does not believe he has to recuse himself from hearing the case.

Whilst Mahloof’s case falls under the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) graft scandal – PG Office has brought it to the attention of the Criminal Court that the presiding judge in the case, Judge Misbaah, is an individual who served as the lawyer of former MMPRC Managing Director Abdulla Ziyath.

Public Prosecutor, Media Official at PG Office Ahmed Shafeeu had told Sun on Thursday that Criminal Court had informed them that Judge Misbaah feels he does not need to recuse himself from hearing the case as the judgment against Ziyath had no correlation to Mahloof’s case.

In addition to this, Shafeeu said that the Court had cited Ziyath not being a witness in Mahloof’s case as a reason Judge Misbaah does not have to recuse himself.

Minister Mahloof was charged based on the findings of an investigation by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) into the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) graft scandal. 

ACC found that in 2014, then-parliamentarian Mahloof received USD 33,000 in funds stolen from MMPRC as a bribe from then-Vice President Ahmed Adeeb Abdul Gafoor to remain a member of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and vote for the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Bill on August 27, 2014. 

ACC found that on September 1, 2014, a USD 33,000 cheque was deposited to Mahloof’s bank account by SOF Private Limited – the company accused of laundering the stolen funds. The corruption watchdog said that though Mahloof submitted a ‘Payment Received’ slip in the name of SOF as evidence it had been a legitimate business transaction to procure US dollars, the commission had witnesses and other evidence to prove otherwise.  

However, Mahloof continued to maintain his innocence and described the case against him as a political conspiracy to remove him from office. 

In 2019, Mahloof was suspended when ACC’s report on the MMPRC scandal was first publicized. However, he was cleared two months later, following an investigation by the President’s Office. 

Later, Mahloof was placed under suspension again in June 2021, after the ACC requested corruption charges against him with the Prosecutor General’s Office.  However, the President's Office lifted the suspension in October 2021 and he continues to undertake the responsibilities as the Youth Minister.