The Criminal Court on Thursday sentenced former Football Association of Maldives (FAM) President Bassam Adeel Jaleel to five years in prison after finding him guilty of money laundering.

Bassam faced two charges: fraud and money laundering. The case concerned USD 10,000 that FIFA deposited to the FAM in 2018, which was later transferred to Bassam’s personal account.

According to the prosecution, a large portion of the funds was used for the benefit of Bassam and his wife’s company, Glacier Investments. It was also alleged that USD 2,000 of the money was used to pay rent for the Rehendu flat.

On 8 October, the Criminal Court convicted Bassam of fraud and sentenced him to four years in jail, but no decision was made at the time regarding the money laundering charge.

In Thursday’s ruling, Judge Ismail Shafeeu sentenced Bassam to five years in prison and ordered him to pay MVR 154,000 to the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) within six months.

The court found that Bassam had claimed the USD 10,000 was part of his salary, but the transaction record described it as “Sales of Dollars.” Evidence presented showed that Bassam’s salary was USD 3,000 per month and that his regular allowance was deposited at the end of each month, including on 26 August 2018.

The judge noted that even if the deposited amount were three times his monthly salary, it would not qualify as an allowance. The court also found that Bassam had admitted to receiving USD 10,000 from FAM to exchange for local currency but failed to return the funds.

The court concluded that the evidence proved Bassam had embezzled the money intended for currency exchange, leading to his conviction for money laundering.