Malé, Maldives – Mohamed Aqeel, the former Head of the Accounts Department at the Football Association of Maldives (FAM), has been remanded until the conclusion of his trial. The remand order relates to charges of aiding money laundering in connection with the alleged embezzlement of FAM funds.

The court issued the remand order following a request from the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO). Mr. Aqeel, whose address is Fehikuri, G.A. Gemanafushi, was arrested in Thailand and subsequently repatriated to the Maldives on 21 June.

Charges Detailed

Mr. Aqeel faces a charge of aiding money laundering. According to the prosecution’s allegations, the charges specifically relate to transactions involving an apartment purchase and the creation of falsified financial documentation.

The indictment states that on 26 January 2021, Mr. Aqeel allegedly prepared a cheque from FAM’s account for a payment to Amin Construction. This payment was reportedly intended for an apartment located at Amin Avenue.

It is further alleged that on 14 April 2021, a sum of USD 1,000,000 was deposited into Amin Construction’s account via this cheque. To purportedly present this transaction as a legitimate dollar sale, Mr. Aqeel is accused of preparing, stamping, and signing documents that falsely indicated FAM had received MVR 15,420,000—the equivalent of the US dollar amount—from Amin Construction, despite these funds not being received by FAM.