A businessman from Singapore is purported to have been involved in a money laundering scheme in the Maldives, where up to US$1.5 billion (S$2 billion) was allegedly embezzled from the country’s central bank.
Stealing Paradise, a documentary by Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit that was published on Tuesday (Sep 6), alleges that the plot, involving high-ranking Maldivian officials and businessmen from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, involved flying in the cash, passing it through Maldives’ central bank and then transferring it back out.
According to the documentary, former Maldives vice president Ahmed Adib Abdul Ghafoor worked with three of president Abdulla Yameen’s closest aides to set up a lucrative “tourism investment plan” in a country well known for its luxury tourist resorts.
In the report by Al Jazeera, Singaporean businessman Tan Kuan Yew allegedly acted as the “middleman” for the operation.
Tan was first named in a report by The New Indian Express in February this year, claiming that he flew ‘huge cash amounts’ into the Maldives, which was then allegedly laundered through official banking channels in the island country.
Al Jazeera’s report included detailed timelines, text messages, e-mails, immigration records and documents between Tan and the Maldives tourism minister.
Three other businessmen were reported by Al Jazeera to have been involved. They are Indonesians Rosihan Yacub and Abdul Hakam Hadi, and Malaysian Faidzan Hassan, who was described as “the architect of the deal”.
According to Al Jazeera, all four businessmen deny any wrongdoing and say no money was moved.
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