Affan Owns Several Properties In UK, Result Of Hard Work: Dep Amb Naushad

Naushad Waheed, the Maldivian Deputy Ambassador to the United Kingdom, has claimed that Defence Minister Mariya Didi's son, Affan Abdus-Sattar, had bought a large number of properties in the United Kingdom by "dedicated hard work".

Dhiyares, the sister-newspaper of The Maldives Journal, had contacted Defence Minister Mariya Didi for her comments regarding the properties worth MVR30 million registered in the United Kingdom under her son's name. The Minister shared a screenshot of the instant-message conversation to her Twitter feed. Deputy Ambassador Naushad responded in defence of the Defence Minister and her family.

Deputy Ambassador Naushad stated that Affan owned "not 1, nor 2, or even 3 houses in the United Kingdom".

"With God's help, a son who works hard with dedication will enjoy wealth and a bright future", said Naushad. "He won't have to steal".

Naushad further claimed that Affan was an "exemplary Maldivian son".

Despite the Deputy Ambassador's claims, the investigation commissioned by Dhiyares had shown that Affan had bought and sold properties in the United Kingdom in the past, as well. Some of the properties had been bought when Affan had been much younger, and therefore the claim that this had been the result of his hard work appears very unlikely. Some of the transactions had gone through companies that had been registered in the British Virgin Islands and the Bahamas.