ACC begins investigation of corruption case against Transport Minister

Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has opened an investigation following a corruption case lodged against Transport Minister Aishath Nahula.

The case was lodged by a former political appointee to the Transport Ministry, accusing Nahula and the ministry’s Assistant Director Rushuna Rashad of financially benefiting from the registration of vehicles.

The two of them were accused of misusing an amendment to vehicle registration regulations to illegally register 57 vehicles.

An official from ACC told Sun on Tuesday that the commission has registered the case and is at the initial stages of the investigation; obtaining paperwork and making other administrative arrangements.

The people involved will be brought in for questioning if found necessary, said the official.

The ACC had previously countered allegations from the opposition that the government will not allow an investigation into Nahula.

ACC responded that it is an independent institution, and will not allow any outside influences in its investigations.

The case comes after Nahula asked President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih for the dismissal of Deputy Transport Minister Shimaz Ali back in October, based on a 2021 investigation by ACC which found him and five other Transport Ministry officials guilty of corruption in the award of a government contract to Versagio Pvt. Ltd. to manufacture machine-readable license plates.

Meanwhile, Rushana, the other person accused in the corruption allegation involving Nahula, was suspended for possible involvement in illegal registration of vehicles back in November.