Case against Customs Director for “conferring undue advantage” sent to PG

The Prosecutor General’s Office (PG) has received a case against Customs Director of Finance and Accounts Ismail Hamdhoon, alleging he used the “influence of his position” to “confer undue advantage to a particular group,” reports local media.

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) released a statement today (January 30) saying that they previously investigated two 2009 incidents.

“Customs had placed an order for the production of MVR 57,000 (US$3,696) worth of shields, without any prior announcement for submission of estimations,” Sun Online reports.

“An order worth more than MVR 25,000 (US$1,621) was placed for the production of a number of awards, which was also done without prior announcement for estimation,” local media added.

The Public Finance Act states that an announcement must be made to “seek parties for estimates” when spending above MVR 25,000 (US$1,621), according to local media.

The customs transactions Hamdhoon is being prosecuted for were carried out with his permission after “the customs tender committee informed employees not to make such transactions without proper announcements,” ACC said to Sun Online.