Former Vice President Ahmed Adeeb, who was freed after former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih commuted his sentence over the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) corruption scandal, has vowed to return to the Maldives.
Adeeb is currently in Singapore after traveling overseas upon his release.
Rumors have been circulating about Adeeb taking up residency in the country and some media outlets have also reported the same.
But in a post on X today, Adeeb said he was in Singapore for medical treatment and assured his return.
"I will return to my beloved country, where I will live, work and be buried in the soil of Maldives, where I belong," wrote Adeeb, who was the Tourism Minister when the MMPRC scandal occurred and was later appointed to the vice presidency.
The President exercised his powers under the parole law to grant clemency to Adeeb during the previous government.
The MMPRC’s former managing director Abdulla Ziyath's jail sentence was also commuted along with Adeeb's.
Both men had been serving 20-year jail sentences. However, both were under house arrest due to medical conditions.
Only Adeeb and Ziyath - the architects of the embezzlement scheme - have so far confessed to the theft of more than MVR 2 billion from the MMPRC during former President Abdulla Yameen’s administration.
Yameen is also under an 11-year prison sentence over the corruption scandal. After the presidential election, he was transferred to house arrest and allowed to move freely in Male'.
Yameen's appeal is nearing conclusion with the High Court due to deliver a judgment. He is also on trial on separate charges over alleged corruption in the lease of a different island.
