Former President of the Football Association of Maldives (FAM), Bassam Adil Jaleel, has been ordered by the court to relinquish two apartments he acquired on Amin Avenue in Hulhumale’ to the Maldives Police Service (MPS).
The MPS submitted the case to the Prosecutor General's Office last month, alleging that Bassam used funds provided by FIFA as aid for Maldivian football clubs during the COVID-19 pandemic to finance the apartment purchases.
In a statement to the media, the MPS confirmed that the court has mandated Bassam to surrender the two apartments before Sunday. Consequently, work is underway to take the two apartments under police custody.
FIFA allocated USD 1.9 million in loans to the FAM to assist football clubs facing financial challenges due to the pandemic. The MPS has charged Bassam and three others with misappropriating USD 1 million from the loan for the purchase of the flats. Those charged include the owner of Amin Avenue, Amin Construction, as well as FAM finance head Mohamed Agil and Hassan Waheed.
Police allege that Bassam utilized FAM funds amounting to USD 200,789.80 to acquire the two apartments on Amin Avenue. Notably, FIFA has previously suspended Bassam for nine months due to allegations of misuse of FIFA funds.