Tag: anti corruption commission

Progress on GMR project awaits ACC investigations

President of the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) Hassan Luthfee has said there may be an extended delay before work is resumed on GMR’s development of Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA).

“It will take some time. It is not easy for us to finish it,” said Luthfee.

CEO of GMR Maldives Andrew Harrison last week said that no work had been completed on the site since August 2.

Work was initially halted due to issues relating to missing permits – an issue which Harrison said had now been resolved.

Luthfee said today that the government was now waiting for the ACC to finish its three cases concerning the Indian infrastructure company’s deal which was signed under the presidency of Mohamed Nasheed in 2010.

At US$511 million deal represents the largest foreign investment deal in the country’s history.

Luthfee refuted local media reports that two of the three cases will be completed by this Saturday.

“We have started the investigations and analysed the agreements and maybe we will finish our first reports in two weeks,” said Luthfee.

Luthfee was also keen to correct media reports that the ACC had requested a foreign expert to help specifically with the GMR investigations.

He stated that the ACC had been seeking an expert for assistance with all of the commission’s work but had struggled to accommodate one within the current budget.

Luthfee also added that the investigation would be conducted in conjunction with the Auditor General (AG) in order to give the process “greater transparency.”

Following a Supreme Court ruling on a separate case last week, Luthfee argued that the ACC was powerless without greater powers to prevent corruption.

“In other countries, Anti Corruption Commissions have the powers of investigation, prevention and creating awareness. If an institution responsible for fighting corruption does not have these powers then it is useless,” he said.

President’s Spokesman Abbas Adil Riza, who was not responding to calls at time of press, told local media yesterday that the government would not be able to take any decision regarding the GMR project until the ACC’s investigations were completed.

“ACC’s decision on the issue is very important for the government; it would assist the government in resolving this issue. There’s no legal action the government can take otherwise,” Abbas told Sun Online.

In June, pro-government parties re-affirmed a joint 2010 agreement calling for nationalisation of the airport.

The leader of one of these parties, Gasim Ibrahim of the Jumhooree Party (JP), was quoted in local media yesterday as saying he would oppose the GMR deal for as long as he lived.

These comments closely followed media reports that GMR had terminated the credit facility of Gasim’s Villa Air company after it had amassed MVR 17 million ($US1.1million) in unpaid bills.

There was no one from Villa Air available for comment at the time of press.

Fellow national unity government party, the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP), filed a case last November against the introduction of an Airport Development Charge (ADC) which had been key to financing the project.

The DQP also produced a document criticising the deal and drawing parallels between foreign investment and colonialism.

After the Civil Court ruled the ADC an illegal tax, the Nasheed government reached an interim arrangement whereby GMR would deduct the lost revenue from the concessionary payments owed to the government.

This issue has become a major point of friction with the new government which subsequently declared this interim arrangement illegal also.

Transport Minister Dr Ahmed Shamheed, also not responding to calls today, met with India’s Civil Aviation Minister last week, informing him of the issues with the GMR project.

“The Civil Aviation Minister talked about this issue in detail, while we were on the subject of foreign investments. Until now, the Indian government had been aware only that the Maldivian government has an agreement with GMR. So we took the opportunity to explain the problems associated with this agreement. It was a good chance to inform them of this,” Shamheed told Sun Online.

Whilst Shamheed visited India, President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan, was in China where as well as meeting with prominent businessmen, he told the China-Eurasia Economy Development and Cooperation Forum that the Maldives was “open for business”.

The government recently sent a statement to the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), arguing that the stigma of being on the group’s investigative agenda was deterring foreign investment in the country.

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Supreme Court precedent in Nexbis case makes ACC meaningless: ACC President

The Supreme Court of the Maldives last Sunday invalidated the a High Court injunction blocking the implementation of a border control system (BCS) in Ibrahim Nasir International Airport by Malaysia-based security solutions firm Nexbis.

The seven member bench of the Supreme Court invalidated the injunction, stating that “the subject of the injunction was not a subject where an injunction can be issued and thereby the bench of the Supreme Court unanimously rule that High Court order is invalid”.

The decisive ruling ends a long-running legal battle involving Department of Immigration, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and Nexbis. The ACC had alleged there was corruption in the bidding process.

Following the decision, Controller of Immigration Dr Mohamed Ali stated to local media that the system would soon be fully installed.

“A team of Nexbis staff will be coming over by the end of this week. A large portion of the system has already been installed. I hope we would be able to begin using the system very soon,” the controller said.

He reiterated that the immigration department currently uses a very basic application which has many issues and would also expire by the end of the year.

The new system he said would alleviate the existing problem of long queues and other issues, as well as increase the efficiency of the process.

He further said that when they when the system is implemented and begins functioning, biometrics from all departures and arrivals will be recorded. Afterward, “no one will dare to enter the Maldives illegally.”

“No one can stop the project,” he concluded.

State of limbo

Meanwhile, ACC President Hassan Luthfee has expressed concern and frustration over the Supreme Court decision stating that it has put the commission in a state of limbo deprived it of purpose.

“If this institution is simply an investigative body, then there is no purpose for our presence,” he said. “Even the police investigate cases, don’t they? So it is more cost effective for this state to have only the police to investigate cases instead of the ACC,” Luthfee said.

Referring to the ruling, Luthfee said that the ruling meant that the ACC had no power to prevent corruption, even if it was carried out on a large scale.

“In other countries, Anti Corruption Commissions have the powers of investigation, prevention and creating awareness. If an institution responsible for fighting corruption does not have these powers then it is useless,” he said.

Officials investigated were invoking their right to remain silent, Luthfee said, and refusing to take any responsibility.

“When an official chooses to remain silent, what is the purpose of sending such a case to the Prosecutor General? Who will take the responsibility for the damages caused by such actions?” Luthfee questioned.

He added that even if a local island council or a school engages in a activity that involves in corruption, the Supreme Court precedent meant there was nothing that the ACC could do.

“This is just a simple example. To be frank this is the size of the ACC. The Supreme Court should be a court that should assist the independent institutions formed within the constitutional framework of this country,” he added.

Nexbis and ACC at loggerheads

The border control system at Ibrahim Nasir International Airport has been subjected to several allegations of corruption linked to former Controller of Immigration Ilyas Hussain – brother in law of current President Mohamed Waheed Hassan.

Following the presidential elections of 2008, then President Mohamed Nasheed gave Ilyas Hussain the position of Controller of Immigration as a part of coalition agreement with Waheed’s party, at the time Nasheed’s Vice President

However, when the Nexbis case came to light, former President Nasheed removed Ilyas Hussain from the position and put him as the head of the Disaster Management Centre, replacing him with Abdulla Shahid.

Shahid was a vocal opponent of the Nexbis system, alleging that the terms agreed with the company would deprive the Immigration department of significant revenue for comparatively little return.

The former controller at the time expressed concern over both the cost and necessity of the project, calculating that as tourist arrivals continued to grow Nexbis would earn US$200 million in revenue over the project’s 20-year lifespan.

Comparing Nexbis’ earnings to the government’s estimated revenue from the deal of US$10 million, Shahid suggested the government instead maximise its income by operating a system given by a donor country.

“Border control is not something we are unable to comprehend – it is a normal thing all over the world,” Shahid told Minivan News at the time. “There is no stated cost of the equipment Nexbis is installing – we don’t know how much it is costing to install, only how much we have to pay. We need to get everything out in the open.”

Following the controversial transfer of power on February 7, President Waheed returned Ilyas Ibrahim to his former position as the controller of Immigration.

However as the corruption investigation progressed, President Waheed removed Ilyas Hussain from Immigration and installed him as Minister of State for Defence and National Security, Chief of Staff of the President’s Office Dr Mohamed Ali replaced him as Controller of Immigration.

Nexbis and ACC came to loggerheads the day after signing ceremony between Immigration Controller Ilyas Hussein Ibrahim and Nexbis CEO Johan Yong. The ACC opposed and sought and injunction after stating it had received “a serious complaint” regarding the “technical details” of the bid.

In November 2010, nearly a month after the signing of the agreement, shares of Nexbis dropped 6.3 percent on the back of rumours that the project had been suspended.

The speculations lead to Nexbis announcing that it would seek legal redress against parties in the Maldives, claiming that speculation over corruption was “politically motivated” in nature and had “wrought irreparable damage to Nexbis’ reputation and brand name.”

In August 2011 the Malaysian based mobile security system vendor on the local media threatened to take legal action over the stalled border agreement with the government.

In a letter to then Immigration Controller Abdulla Shahid on August 19, Nexbis complained that it had not received a reply from the Immigration Department to its inquiries after the cabinet decided to proceed with the project.

Nexbis stated in its letter that the company had spent “millions of dollars” to purchase equipment and had even paid import duties to the government, noting that the continuing delays were resulting in financial losses.

ACC filed a court case against the Rf500 million (US$39 million) Nexbis system in November 2011, two days after cabinet decided to resume the project.

The ACC in December also forwarded corruption cases against former Immigraiton Controller Ilyas Hussain Ibrahim and Director General of Finance Ministry, Saamee Ageel to the Prosecutor General’s Office (PG), claiming the pair had abused their authority for undue financial gain in awarding the Nexbis project.

On January 2012, the Civil Court ruled that ACC did not have the legal authority to order the Department of Immigration and Emigration to terminate the border control system contracted to Nexbis in November 2010.

Judge Ali Rasheed ruled that the ACC Act clearly allowed the commission to investigate corruption cases, but did not give ACC legal authority to issue an order which can annul a formal agreement signed between one or more parties.

He asserted that it was “unfair” to the contractors if ACC could annul an agreement without the contractors’ say, adding that such a decision violated the protection granted to the contractors under the Maldives Law of Contract.

Nexbis on February 2012, a week after the controversial transfer of power, filed a lawsuit at the Civil Court seeking Rf 669 million (US$43 million) in damages from former Immigration Controller Abdulla Shahid.

According to the lawsuit, Nexbis alleged Shahid refused to proceed with the project despite court approval and spread false information regarding the agreement to the media, tarnishing Nexbis’ global reputation.

Meanwhile, the Immigration department decided to proceed with the stalled border control system.

On April 2012, the ACC appealed the Civil Court’s ruling in the High Court.

The High Court favoured the ACC and issued an injunction, temporarily halting the roll out of the border control system pending the outcome of the ACC’s appeal against a Civil Court ruling that the ACC did not have the authority to halt the project.

Nexbis then filed an appeal at the Supreme Court against the High Court injunction.

The firm had earlier in May stated that despite the legal complications surrounding the deal, the border control project had completed its first phase, with Rf 10 million’s (US$650,000) worth of installation work having been finished.

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Nexbis appeals High Court injunction halting border control project

Malaysia-based security solutions firm Nexbis has filed an appeal at the Supreme Court against a High Court injunction ordering a halt to the border control system, reports newspaper Haveeru.

The High Court issued an injunction after the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) appealed a Civil Court judgment that ruled that the commission did not have the legal authority to order the Department of Immigration and Emigration to halt the border control project.

The High Court ordered a halt to the project pending a verdict on the appeal by the ACC.

Nexbis lawyer Ismail Visham told the local daily today that the company decided to appeal the injunction as the High Court case remained stalled, causing delays to the project.

The Supreme Court has meanwhile scheduled a hearing for next Wednesday. The Supreme Court had earlier issued a writ of mandamus overturning the first High Court injunction on the grounds that the High Court bench that heard the case was unlawful.

A reconvened High Court bench subsequently issued the injunction for a second time on July 16.

Following the Supreme Court intervention, Controller of Immigration and Emigration Dr Mohamed Ali has told Minivan News on July 11 that there was “no legal barrier” preventing the implementation of the border control system.

The High Court meanwhile ordered police to investigate claims made to the ACC that Chief Judge of the High Court Ahmed Shareef met officials from the company in Bangkok.

The dispute concerns the deployment of a border control system, specifically the installation of an electronic border gate system in Male’s Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA), bringing technological upgrades such as facial recognition, fingerprint identification and e-gates to the Maldives.

The MVR500 million (US$39 million) deal had stalled after the ACC alleged corruption in the bidding process, leading to a ongoing series of high-profile court battles and delays that led the Malaysian firm to threaten legal action against the Maldivian government should it incur losses for the work already done on the project.

In May 2012, the project was brought to a standstill by the first High Court injunction and a raid on immigration offices by ACC staff. At the time the MVR10 million (US$650,000) first phase of the border control project had been completed, according to local media reports.

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Government condemns obstruction of ACC investigation, calls on Civil Service Commission to investigate

The government has condemned the obstruction of an Anti-Corruption Commission’s (ACC) investigation into the Immigration department, after immigration staff allegedly locked the investigators in a room, and called on the Civil Service Commission to investigate.

Speaking to Minivan News, President’s Office Spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza said the government believed it is very important for the Civil Service Commission to look into the matter in order to prevent future obstructions to investigations by civil servants.

The offices of the Department of Immigration and Emigration were raided on Thursday by ACC officials with police assistance. The anti-corruption authority seized 75 laptops from the immigration offices, which it alleged had been provided to staff by Nexbis. Immigration staff told local media the laptops were part of the project being rolled out by the security firm.

The ACC accused immigration staff of obstructing and intimidating ACC officials during their investigation of the department, and said it would file a case.

The Nexbis contract – a 20-year Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) agreement to upgrade the Maldives’ border control security system – was signed with Nexbis during the previous administration by President Mohamed Waheed’s brother in-law Ilyas Hussain Ibrahim, who served as the Controller of Immigration and Emigration at the time.

The day after the concessionaire contract was signed, the ACC announced it had received “a serious complaint” regarding “technical details” of the bid, and issued an injunction pending an investigation into the agreement citing “instances and opportunities” where corruption may have occurred.

The ACC in December 2011 forwarded cases of corruption against Ilyas Hussain Ibrahim and former Director General of Finance Ministry, Saamee Ageel to the Prosecutor General’s Office (PG) .

The ACC alleged the pair had abused their authority for undue financial gain in giving the US$39 million Border Control System project to Malaysia’s Nexbis Limited.

Ilyas was reappointed as the Controller of Immigration and Emigration in February after President Waheed came to power. However, the President on Thursday transferred Ilyas Hussain to the Defense Ministry as the Nexbis case intensified, following the ACC’s raid.

“The President decided to transfer Ilyas as he is under investigation in an alleged corruption case,” confirmed Riza. “It is in the best interest of the situation as his name is everywhere these days.”

The ACC was not responding at time of press.

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Elections Commission audit report reveals “irresponsible” spending

Elections Commission of Maldives (EC)’s 2010 audit report has revealed that commission members “irresponsibly” used state funds to cover lavish medical insurance, buy ipads and expensive mobile phones while failing to maintain office records and recover money withdrawn from the budget by political parties.

Between 2008 and 2010 EC members and their dependents “irresponsibly” chose the “most expensive” medical insurance scheme available from Allied Insurance at Rf.35,000 per person, raising the level of insurance paid through the budget to Rf1.1 million (US$70,500).

According to the report made public on Thursday, the five EC members illegally withdrew allowances from the commission’s budget to pay a their mobile phone bills, totalling Rf74,155 (US$4,809).

Members of both the Civil Service Commission and the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) committed this violation, wrote Auditor General (AG) Niyaz Ibrahim in the respective audit reports.

The AG steadily notes that the salary and benefits of independent commission members are determined by the People’s Majlis (parliament), and that benefits do not cover phone allowances.

An additional Rf81,861 (US$5,308) was spent on the phone allowances of EC staff, which the AG reports was spent without the Finance Ministry’s approval.

The commission has also spent a total of Rf248, 790 (US$16,134) to buy mobile phones over the past three years, while the AG notes that the chosen models were the “most expensive” ones available in the market at the time.

While some phones are now missing, others have been gifted to staff despite the laws prohibiting the gifting of any state property or item to staff, the AG observed. He recommended that the phone costs be recovered from the staff members concerned.

EC staff also received a total of Rf971,807 (US$63,022) as overtime pay, although there was no record to confirm their work.

The report further reveals that EC members bought five ipads worth Rf 77,500 (US$5,025) in September 2011, after neglecting the AG office’s advice to the contrary.

The commission had previously been asked to use the existing 97 laptops and 250 netbooks, of which some were inexplicably lost.

AG noted the laptops were bought in violation of public finance regulation during the 2008 elections, a case now forwarded by ACC to the Prosecutor General Office.

The report also highlighted inefficiencies in the current mechanism for allocating funds to political parties, a task mandated to the EC.

AG Ibrahim explained that the existing policy to distribute 60 percent of the total funds based on the number of party members, and 40 percent equally among the existing parties, provides an “opportunity to misuse state funds”.

According to him, several parties have gained additional money by manipulating the number of party members, a concern often raised by the Elections Commission.

AG added that it is “financial fraud” and urged to take legal action against the responsible parties, while recommending that the fund distribution mechanism be revised.

He also highlighted that among the existing 15 political parties, several do not have the requisite 3,000 registered members while others are politically inactive.

Therefore, he recommends to stop funding parties with membership below 3,000. According to report statistics, nine existing parties would not qualify.

Since the state budget is a deficit budget, AG also recommends that funds allocated for political parties be determined by state income instead of the total state budget.

Currently, 0.1- 0.2 percent of state budget must be allocated to political parties.

In the past five years the commission has fined seven political parties up to Rf435, 000 (US$28,210) for not submitting the annual financial report on time. However, AG notes that 60 percent of that sum has not yet been collected.

AG also concluded that the EC’s financial statements for the past year do not show the “commission’s financial status accurately and honestly”.

The AG concluded that Rf11.4 million (US$740496) was allegedly distributed to atoll offices during the 2011 elections by the EC as an “expense in the financial statement”, however it has “not been spent in real” and some money still remains in island bank accounts.

Of the Rf75.2 million (US$4.9 million) released as an annual budget to the EC in 2010, the report found that only Rf52.3 million was recorded as spent.

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Border loopholes benefit human traffickers: Immigration Controller

“If one country has a loophole, all countries suffer,” said Immigration Controller Abdulla Shahid, referring to the Maldives’ lack of a border control system amidst rising concerns over human trafficking. “The present border control system is only helping human traffickers.”

Authorities have reported a daily increase in human trafficking to the Maldives, particularly in the case of expatriate workers. The industry has a calculated value of US$123 million, making it the second largest contributor of foreign currency.

“This is a serious issue, there are about 40,000 illegal workers in the Maldives right now,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Naseem. “A border control system would be useful, especially in the future for maintenance. But there is a lot to do within the country as well, and we are currently trying to address these matters.”

The Maldives currently uses an eight year-old, outdated border control system. Plans to upgrade to a modern system have been delayed for over a year on allegations of corruption.

In November 2010, the government approved a Rf500 million (US$39 million) Border Control System by Malaysia’s Nexbis Limited, proposed by the Department of Immigration and Emigration.

Shortly thereafter, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) requested that the agreement be halted due to “a serious public complaint” alleging corrupt dealings. The President upheld the ACC’s request in January 2011, by in May the Cabinet approved the program.

The ACC subsequently renewed its concerns and filed a case at the Civil Court and submitted a report to the Prosecutor General’s (PG) office earlier this month. The report accuses Former Controller Ilyas Hussain Ibrahim and Director General of Finance Ministry, Saamee Aqeel, then head of the Tender Board, for allegedly abusing their authority for undue financial gain.

Nexbis threatened legal action over the delay, citing millions of dollars in losses over equipment already imported to the Maldives. Shahid noted that the equipment is still sitting in Customs.

Immigration matters

Shahid said the public misconception that Immigration is a mundane department doing no-brainer tasks has led to a general misunderstanding of need for a border control system.

“Immigration personnel have to be trained to detect forgery, to profile passengers–we recently had courses for officers on how to detect physical alterations like makeup.

“In general, the public is not aware of the system’s value. It is to everyone’s benefit, even distant countries, to have a strong border control system in the Maldives. Terrorism and human trafficking involve other countries and their borders. If we have good communication, starting at Immigration, and a system, then we have good results.”

Currently a passport check requires an individual to manually scan hundreds of photographs, Shahid said. Without the key components of a modern system – facial recognition, finger-print identification technology, and eye scans – “people who were deported on criminal violations can re-enter the country. If they have a new or fake passport, we rarely detect them with our current system,” Shahid explained.

“A passport is just a piece of paper nowadays. The modern system, with the recognition technology, is almost a 100 percent guarantee of proper identification,” he added.

Nearby Sri Lanka, Thailand and Malaysia have been using modern systems for years.

“I think the proof is strong enough”

Shahid believes that cases against Ibrahim and Aqeel will be difficult to ignore in a court of law.

When the Nexbis system was first considered, a proposal was sent by Immigration to the National Planning Council. According to Shahid’s review of the documents, the final contract drafted deviated significantly from the initial proposal.

“The proposed system could be implemented in six months for US$4-5 million, with the company charging a further US$150-200 thousand per year for maintenance,” he asserted.

“According to this, the Maldives would pay US$8 million in the first year to Nexbis. Over 20 years that would be US$4 million paid annually. That’s fair. But right now the Nexbis plan is one-third of the budget.”

Taxes are also a consideration, particularly given the high numbers of foreigners and expatriates traveling through the Maldives.

“In 2011 we are reaching 1 million foreign arrivals. If we charge US$2 for arrival and US$2 for departure, that’s US$4 per person. Annually, the government would collect US$4 million for Nexbis. It would break even.”

Nexbis proposed these charges as part of its 20-year contract with the government in 2010.

“This means that neither the government nor the Maldivian public have to pay in exchange for a state-of-the-art border security protection,” Nexbis earlier claimed.

Shahid also noted that GMR is expanding Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) to accommodate 3 million arrivals annually, indicating that revenue will increase.

Nexbis also planned to levy a US$15 fee for expatriate identification cards. With the current 100,000 registered expatriates, Shahid said, the company receives US$1.5 million annually from expatriate cards alone.

“Nexbis will get US$27.5 million in 2025, according to the current statistics,” he said. Calculating for a gradual increase of arrivals over the next 20 years, “the generated revenue could build an airport of GMR’s standards and implement an up-to-date border control system.”

According to Shahid’s calculations, the approximate cost in the first year of installment and operation (US$8 million) of a Nexbis-quality border control system is far lower than the cost proposed in the final contract (US$39 million).

Shahid earlier estimated that maintaining a free system given by a donor country would cost at most several hundred thousand dollars a year, and said he was unsure as to why such an agreement had ever been signed.

“I don’t know much about the details of the ACC’s report,” he concluded. “Since I saw the contract for the Nexbis system, my argument has always been that the amount charged is ridiculous. It should not be done and must be halted. It is wrong.”

Ilyas Hussain Ibrahim declined to comment on the grounds that the issue was “politically risky.”

The Nexbis case is currently the largest corruption case before the courts and PG, the ACC confirmed. While corruption charges are regularly issued in the Maldives, resolution at the PG level is not so common. Speaking to Minivan News on the occasion of International Anti-Corruption Day, ACC President Hassan Luthfee said that of the 16 cases filed with the PG this year, zero have been addressed.

Vice President Muaviz Rasheed today said the ACC had received no information from the PG, but was hoping for the Civil Court’s ruling by the end of this month.

“The Civil Court has not been cooperative with the ACC on all counts, however the hearings ended in late November and we expect a ruling within the month,” Muaviz said.

Banana republic?

Although Shahid is confident in the court, he is unsure when the Maldives will take actual steps towards updating its border control system.

Without local capacity and expertise to produce a state-of-the-art border control system, the Maldives would turn again to the international market. Shahid said there are many options: “we could go anywhere, we could even get it as foreign aid.”

But after the dealing with Nexbis, withstanding international scrutiny could be difficult.

“Nexbis sees the Maldives as a banana republic that it can squeeze money out of,” Shahid observed.

With a score of 2.5 on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index and ranking 134th out of 185 countries, the Maldives may not be so inviting to foreign investors.

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Former member of interim Elections Commission deny corruption allegations by ACC

Former member of the interim Elections Commission (EC), Ahmed ‘Saabe’ Shahid, has denied allegations of corruption made by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) over the purchase of over 50 laptops without a public tender ahead of the October 2008 presidential election.

In a statement issued to the media yesterday, Saabe insisted that the procurement of the laptops was a necessary expense for the commission’s preparations for the historic multi-party elections in October.

The first 20 laptops were purchased after considering prices proposed on September 22 in response to a public announcement on September 16. The first round of the presidential election was held on October 8 and the second round run-off on October 28.

“To my recollection, additional laptops were bought on three further occasions,” reads the statement from Saabe. “Of these, the 10 laptops purchased on October 4 with my authorisation were bought on very short notice just four days before the 2008 presidential election.”

The former deputy chair of the EC explained that normal procurement procedures takes at least six days between the public announcement and the purchase.

The 10 laptops were therefore procured based on the September 16 announcement “after considering the period and [quoted] price of the previous transaction” and the company that could provide the notebook computers at the earliest possible date.

“A quotation was received from the company for this and the reason for the purchase was stated in that quotation,” he wrote.

Saabe noted that the EC was afforded a very short period of time to conduct the first multi-party presidential election and the first election where voters had to be registered.

In addition to considerable efforts in preparation, said Saabe, the commission had to make arrangements for Maldivians living abroad to participate in the election and register workers at resorts and industrial islands “to ensure the right to vote for every Maldivian citizen in a very short space of time.”

Saabe observed that while Rf99 million was allocated for the two rounds of the presidential election, the EC actually spent Rf65.1 million and “saved the state Rf30.9 million.”

The savings were the result of measures taken by the commission to reduce cost and wastage, he suggested.

“Section 18 of the Elections Commission Act states that the commission cannot be charged for actions taken with good intentions,” he said, adding that the transactions were made with the intention of doing “the best possible work in an extraordinarily short period of time.”

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Two former members of interim Elections Commission face corruption charges

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has forwarded corruption cases against two former members and two senior officials of the Elections Commission (EC) to the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) for purchasing over 50 laptops without a public tender or bidding process.

The officials facing corruption charges are former commission members Ahmed ‘Saabe’ Shahid and Mohamed Mahir along with then-Director General Shaukath Ibrahim and Deputy Director Ahmed Naeem.

An ACC investigation into the allegedly fraudulent transactions found that the EC bought 57 NEC Versa S3300 notebook computers on four different occasions from the same company ahead of the 2008 presidential elections.

The 57 laptops were purhcased in the space of 21 days at a total cost of Rf 621,015 (S$40,000).

A press statement issued by the ACC yesterday revealed that the first 20 laptops were purchased after a public announcement on September 16, 2008, but an additional 37 laptops were purchased before October 15 – two weeks before the second round run-off – without an invitation for bids.

The ACC found from examining “goods delivery” notes that the EC received the laptops before the dates specified in the agreements, which were signed by then-Deputy Director Ahmed Naeem.

The ACC noted that the purchases were made in violation of regulations on procurement of items from a single party as well as a stipulation for public tenders and evaluation by a committee for purchases above Rf25,000.

While the EC did not form a committee to evaluate bids and award points for proposals in accordance with the regulations, the ACC also found the company that provided the laptops did not submit information in writing as required by the procurement regulations.

The ACC asked the PGO on November 17 to charge former Deputy Director Ahmed Naeem under the Anti-Corruption Act for abuse of authority for undue financial gain for a third party and to prosecute former members of the interim commission, Mohamed Mahir and Ahmed ‘Saabe’ Shahid, on similar corruption charges for authorising the illegal purchases.

Ahmed Shahid is a senior member of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and husband of Galolhu North MP Eva Abdulla.

Both Mahir and Saabe had authorised the purchases by approving quotations provided by the company. The company was not named in the ACC press statement.

The ACC also requested the PG to prosecute then-Director General Shaukath Ibrahim to recover the cost of five laptops (Rf54,475) that were lost and not entered into the stock inventory. The investigators found that Shaukath as head of operations was responsible for the loss.

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ACC forwards cases against senior officials of Thilafushi Corporation for prosecution

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has concluded its investigation into alleged corruption committed by the Thilafushi Corporation Ltd (TCL) in awarding a land reclamation project to Heavy Load Maldives – a family business of ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Chairman ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik – and sent cases against three senior TCL officials for prosecution.

The three members of the bid evaluation committee facing corruption charges are Managing Director Mohamed Wafir, Director Mohamed Adhil Rasheed and former Acting Manager Ibrahim Riyaz.

A statement put out by the ACC yesterday noted that the US$21 million project was not awarded with the advice of the TCL board and in violation of the government-owned company’s operating procedures.

The ACC investigation found that TCL provided US$3 million to Heavy Load as a mobilisation payment without the approval of either the engineer or the board’s majority.

Moreover, TCL accepted three vessels worth US$1.8 million as advance payment security without a valuation of the vessels. The security document was signed by a director of Heavy Load Maldives while a board resolution from the company authorising the director to sell or mortgage assets was not submitted.

Based on its finding, the ACC concluded that the three evaluation committee members tried to “illegally benefit a particular party” in the awarding of the project.

In addition, the ACC found that TCL was in the process of revising the project and replacing its engineer, Abdulla Ziyad, as the contractor appeared unlikely to complete the project on time.

The dredging was part of TCL’s development of a new port catering to 15,000 ton cargo ships and container terminal, on 3.8 million square foot of land. The industrial zone development project is partly intended to free up land currently occupied by the port in Male’, one of the most densely populated cities in the world at over 100,000 people per square kilometre.

Meanwhile, in a second statement put out today, the ACC revealed that it had also requested the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) to prosecute TCL’s Corporate and Legal Affairs Manager Mohamed Latheef as he had failed to provide a copy of a board resolution approving the decision to sue the ACC after it ordered the project to be halted.

Latheef had assured the ACC on August 21 that he would send a copy to the commission, the statement noted.

TCL sued the ACC on April 21 claiming the commission’s order to stop work on the US$21 million Thilafushi reclamation project was not legally justifiable.

In April, TCL lawyer Mazlan Rasheed argued at the Civil Court that the ACC did not have legal authority to order the government corporation to scrap the project, which was was both “irresponsible” and “unlawful” as the order was made before the commission completed its investigation process.

TCL therefore requested that the Civil Court declare the ACC order unlawful, he said.

ACC lawyer Areef Ahmed Naseer however denied the claims, insisting that the commission acted within legal bounds.

Heavy Load Maldives was awarded the US$21 million project on September 30 last year, and inaugurated the project on February 4, 2011.

MP Moosa Manik told Minivan News in February this year that the commission’s order was politically motivated, claiming that “there is a part of the ACC that is not free and fair.”

“PA’s Deputy Leader [Ahmed] Nazim is very close with one of the commission members, [Abdulla] Hilmy, which needs closer investigation,” Moosa claimed. “I am a strong part of this government and I think this is a political trick. I haven’t even been into the Heavy Load office in one and a half months because of my campaigning [in the local council elections]. It is run by my family, my children.”

In an audio clip of a leaked phone call between Nazim and MP Abdulla Yameen that emerged in July 2010, the Deputy Speaker is heard to say that he has “given warnings” to ACC members to issue a press release, presumably regarding dismissed Auditor General Ibrahim Naeem.

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