The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) said 59.6 per cent of the 4,000 flats allotted by the previous government under the 'Gedhoruveriya' housing scheme did not meet the eligibility criteria.

At a press conference on Monday, ACC stated that the points given to applicants for the 4,000 available apartments were not distributed fairly. Specifically, some applicants were improperly given extra points, while others provided inconsistent information on their applications.

The commission's investigative team reported that applications that satisfied the criteria and had no other problems amounted to 20.7 percent, while applications that met the criteria but were missing some necessary information totaled 19.7 percent.

ACC revealed that some applicants had submitted fraudulent documents to show they had been living in Male' for 15 consecutive years. Furthermore, some applicants were approved to receive apartments without verifying the data provided through the portal as required.

An investigator detailed that applicants had submitted letters falsely claiming they had worked at companies before those companies were even founded, in order to appear employed in Male'.

The release of the list of 4,000 apartment recipients by Fahi Dhiru Ulhun Corporation (FDC) in Hulhumale' led to public protests over the point allocations. ACC received a total of 325 complaints regarding the recipient list.

The Anti-Corruption Commission had previously ordered the suspension of issuing flats under the 'Gedhoruveriya' scheme, after receiving complaints about irregularities. The commission lifted the suspension on Thursday, telling the Housing Ministry to follow specific regulations when giving out the flats.