ACC Seeks Corruption Charges Against Former Deputy Minister Naif Shaukath

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has called on the Prosecutor General's Office to press corruption charges against Naif Shaukath, the former Deputy Minister at the Housing Ministry, for his role in the illegal sale of a government-owned land plot under the Veshifahi Programme in 2018.

In its request today, the ACC also recommended that Hassan Waheed, a former coordinator at the Ministry, be prosecuted alongside Naif. Both are accused of abusing their official positions for personal gain.

According to the ACC, the land in question was sold to a party that was not the rightful buyer under the Veshifahi Malé Programme's policies. The plot had originally been requested by the owner of an adjacent property, but was instead sold to a party whose land was farther away, violating the programme’s regulations.

The ACC further noted that the rightful heirs' claims were disregarded, which was a policy requirement. The investigation uncovered that this transaction was carried out to provide an unfair advantage to the purchaser, the ACC stated.