Prosecutor General Ahmed Usham has said that Mohamed Alabbar agreed in a conversation with him that he maintains ties with Jews. Alabbar is a well-known UAE billionaire and the founder and chairman of Eagle Hills, the company investing in Hulhumalé.

This came to light in a leaked audio clip of Usham speaking, which is now circulating on social media.

In the audio, Usham says he has met Alabbar three times and that in one of those meetings Alabbar agreed he maintains ties with Jews. According to Usham, Alabbar said he keeps those ties because aid cannot be delivered to Palestine without going through Jews. Usham also says Alabbar told him the United States and Israel are not countries he supports.

Opposition parties have been raising concerns over allegations that Eagle Hills chairman Alabbar has special ties with Jews. The biggest public concern about the Eagle Hills project is also his alleged ties with Jews.

In the audio, Usham also says the Pearl Residence visa for investors in the Maldives and the visa to be issued under the Ras Malé project are two completely different things. The government runs the Pearl Residence visa through the Economic Ministry, with Henley & Partners as intermediary. Usham said Henley & Partners wants the visa handed over to it exclusively, but that this would require a law. His remarks suggest that Alabbar wants to secure special privileges for his investments through a separate visa programme that gives him exclusivity.

Many citizens are voicing concern over the government’s decision to give 500 hectares of land in Hulhumalé to Eagle Hills. The opposition says President Muizzu wants to push ahead with the investment purely for money, at the expense of the faith. It has been protesting against the project every night and is now preparing to hold a major protest on the 13th of this month.