The efforts to recover USD 10.7 million in promissory notes and loans from the SOF company used to commit the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) corruption have revealed that the SOF has no assets or money in its name.
This was revealed in the case filed to enforce the judgment handed down eight years ago. The court ruling was issued on September 17, 2017. The SOF was given six months to pay the money. The company did not pay any money during or after this period.
At the time, the company's accounts were frozen. But the court later released the accounts.
The case was registered on October 23, 2023, after the MMPRC filed a petition seeking enforcement of the ruling.
During the enforcement stages, the court said there was no property or money in the name of SOF. According to the court ruling, there was no money in any bank account opened in the name of the company. There are no shares in the company and no vehicles, buildings or land registered in the name of the company.
The court's remedy in this case was to resubmit the case with the document or information if MMPRC knew that SOF had any property in its name.
In the MMPRC corruption scandal, acquisition fees paid to the state for islands and lagoons leased through the MMPRC were embezzled and deposited to SOF's bank account.
The bulk of the estimated MVR 1.2 billion stolen in the MMPRC corruption scandal was deposited to SOF's account. Despite the participation of the company's senior officials in carrying out the embezzlement scheme, none of them was charged.
Former Tourism Minister Ahmed Adeeb, former MMPRC Managing Director Abdulla Ziyath and former President Abdulla Yameen were sentenced in connection with the MMPRC corruption scandal.
Former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih pardoned Adeeb and Ziyath near the end of his term. The Supreme Court also quashed the conviction of Yameen. The trial of additional charges against Yameen in another connected case is ongoing.
The Civil Court has dismissed an enforcement case filed against SOF over the company's failure to make payments to the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) in line with a previous judgment.
