Prosecutor General’s Office PGO says it has filed charges on behalf of the state against former Islamic Minister Dr. Ahmed Ziyaad for alleged corruption in the construction of Zikuraa Mosques in Male’ City.
PGO said that it filed the charges against the former minister after it was revealed that the agreement for the construction of a 10 story mosque was made in violation of the proposal submitted by SJ Construction and in a way that incurred a loss to the state. It also said upon the signing of the agreement, SJ Construction was paid MVR 30 million in equity and no gains were made to the state.
If the charges filed against Dr. Ziyaad are proven correct then he would face a jail sentence of up to 1 year and 7 months.
PGO had also filed charges against the former head of the endowment section at the Islamic Ministry Ibrahim Abdullah Saeed for abuse of power. If Saeed is found guilty of these charges then he would face a jail sentence of up to 1 year and 6 months.
Former President Abdullah Yameen’s government had awarded the construction of Zikura mosque as a Waqf (an inalienable charitable endowment under Islamic law) to SJ Constructions back in 2018.
It had said that the construction would be completed by Ramadan of 2019.
