Tag: corruption

Minister of state for tourism resigns, cites “unacceptable” conduct of Minister Adheeb

Mariyam Mizna Shareef resigned from her position as Minister of State for Tourism, Arts and Culture yesterday (June 19), stating on social media that she had quit over unspecified “differences” with Tourism Minister Ahmed Adheeb

Taking to micro-blogging site Twitter after announcing her resignation yesterday (June 19), Mizna wrote that she had found the manner in which he ran the ministry to be “unacceptable”.

Speaking to Minivan News today, Mizna declined to comment on the post, adding that she wished to keep a low-profile and stay out of the political arena.

News of Mizna’s resignation came following the President’s Office announcement earlier the same day that it had dismissed Deputy Tourism Minister Mohamed Maleeh Jamal and Minister of State for Economic Development Abdulla Ameen from their posts at the behest of their former party.

Maleeh alleged yesterday that could see no other reason for their dismissals beyond the decision of both Ameen and himself not to back President Dr Mohamed Waheed’s election campaign.

Both men have pledged to back the government-aligned Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) presidential candidate MP Abdullah Yameen during September’s election.

Mizna today confirmed that her resignation as state minister had not been related to the dismissals of Maleeh and Ameen, though she did not elaborate further.

Posting on Twitter following her resignation, Mizna claimed that she had tried to enact change within the ministry during her time in the post, but claimed “things [were] going from bad to worse” despite her attempts.

“Only way is to remove Adheeb,” she concluded.

Mizna’s comments on Twitter prompted a flurry of activity on the social networking site, including one post from an account claiming to be that of a PPM Council Member.

Mizna meanwhile accused Adheeb of being “busy giving away lagoons, sandbanks and uninhabited islands.”

Mizna Shareef’s Twitter profile could not be viewed as of this afternoon.

Ministry response

Minister Adheeb was not responding to calls from Minivan News at time of press today.

Adheeb told newspaper Haveeru that his “only crime was being the PPM deputy leader.”

“I have become the target of everyone. It has become their purpose to slaughter me politically. But if there’s a corruption issue involving me shouldn’t they go to the Anti-Corruption Commission or a Majlis committee? But [instead] certain individuals are trying to bring me into disrepute. I regret the corruption allegations made about me. But I will not budge. I won’t budge for a government post,” he was quoted as saying.

Tourism Ministry spokesperson Hassan Zameel told Minivan News that Mizna had not raised any official concerns with the ministry relating to allegations of misconduct against Minister Adheeb.

“She may have discussed these matters with the minister or her colleagues, but we have not received an official complaint,” he said. “The ministry can only recognize complaints if someone has put these concerns to us officially in written form.”

Zameel added that yesterday’s resignation of former State Minister Mizna and the dismissal of former Deputy Minister Maleeh would have no significant impact on the day-to-day running of the ministry.

He added that the ministry would continue to operate with the minister and state minister making political decisions, while civil servants would continue to oversee the rest of the authority’s work.

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No corruption in GMR airport deal, concludes ACC

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has ruled out corruption in the awarding of a concession agreement in June 2010 to a consortium of Indian infrastructure giant GMR and Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhard (MAHB) to develop and manage the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA).

In a 61-page investigative report (Dhivehi) made public yesterday (June 17), the ACC concluded that the bidding process was conducted fairly by the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) and that the GMR-MAHB consortium won the contract by proposing the highest net present value of the concession fee.

The ACC further concluded that the awarding of the contract did not contravene amendments brought to the Public Finance Act requiring parliamentary approval for such agreements.

The amendments were published in the government gazette after the concession agreement was signed, the ACC noted.

The concession agreement was signed on June 28, 2010, while the amendments were gazetted on December 13, 2010, following a Supreme Court ruling. The amendments were voted through for a second time in August 2010 following a presidential veto.

On the previous administration’s decision to replace the board of directors at the 100 percent government-owned Maldives Airports Company Ltd (MACL) – after they refused to sign the concession agreement claiming insufficient information – the ACC observed that there was “no legal obstacle” for the move.

The ACC report also concluded that the government would benefit more from privatising the airport.

“Considering the situation (2008, 2009 and 2010) when the decision was made to privatise the Male’ International Airport,” the ACC’s calculations showed that MACL would make a profit of about US$254 million in 25 years if the airport was operated by the government-owned company.

Conversely, the government would receive about US$534 million in the same period from the GMR consortium if the airport was privatised, the ACC found.

The privatisation of the airport by the ousted Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) government in June 2010 was strongly condemned by opposition parties on nationalistic grounds.

The Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), Peoples Alliance (PA), Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) and Jumhooree Party (JP) signed an agreement to work against the privatisation process and launched a media offensive alleging “massive corruption” in the awarding of the contract.

The ACC report this week meanwhile followed a special audit conducted by the Auditor General’s Office with the assistance of a British consultant concerning the airport privatisation deal.

The AG’s report stated that evidence to back allegations of “improper interference” during the technical bidding process “is not conclusive on this point” and deferred the matter to the ACC.

The AG’s report also noted that the IFC’s terms of reference involved “securing the best deal for the government in terms of the concession fee paid to the government and MACL, and did not consider impacts on the Maldivian economy.”

Government stance

In November 2012, the current government – made up of a coalition of parties opposed to the MDP government’s privatisation policy – declared the concession agreement with the GMR-led consortium “void ab initio” (invalid from the outset) and abruptly terminated the contract.

In April this year, the Attorney General’s Office confirmed that arbitration proceedings resulting from the contract cancellation would begin by mid-2014.

Responding to the ACC’s findings yesterday, the government insisted that the report would have no impact on its legal position to declare the GMR concession agreement void, contending that President Dr Mohamed Waheed’s decision had nothing to do with corruption allegations levelled by “some people”.

President’s Office Media Secretary Masood Imad told Minivan News that the contract was declared void from the beginning due to the negative impact on state finances in 2012.

“Back before the government took back control of the airport from GMR, the reason we gave was that the deal was bleeding the country’s economy. We were paying GMR to keep them here,” he explained.

Masood said that despite “speculation from some people” concerning corruption by the former administration in signing the deal, the present government was not responsible for filing a case with the ACC.

He added that the government’s concerns over the deal had been in relation to the imposition of a US$25 Airport Development Charge (ADC) by GMR that was blocked by the Civil Court in 2011 after the then-opposition DQP filed a case on the matter.

The DQP, now part of President Waheed’s coalition government, attempted to block payment of the charge on the grounds that it was effectively a tax not approved by parliament.

In response, the MDP government agreed to deduct the ADC from the concession fees payable, while GMR later offered to exempt Maldives nationals from paying the ADC as it moved to appeal the verdict.

However, former President Mohamed Nasheed resigned under controversial circumstances on February 7, 2012 amidst a violent mutiny by elements of the police and military before the Civil Court verdict was appealed at the High Court.

Consequently, in the first quarter of 2012, Dr Waheed’s government received US$525,355 of an expected US$8.7 million, after the deduction of the ADC. That was followed by a US$1.5 million bill for the second quarter, after the ADC payable eclipsed the revenue due the government.

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High Court concludes hearings of Deputy Speaker Nazim’s case ahead of final verdict

The High Court today concluded hearing witness statements in the state’s appeal of Deputy Speaker of Parliament Ahmed Nazim acquittal by the Criminal Court on charges of corruption, ahead of delivering a final verdict at a later date.

Nazim stands accused of receiving more than US$400,000 through fraudulent transactions made by a company he was found to own.

At today’s hearing, the prosecution lawyer noted that the Criminal Court had previously dismissed the testimonies of witnesses submitted by the state against Nazim. The High Court would now decide on whether to take the witness statements into account before a final verdict on the case is delivered.

The Criminal Court ruled in February last year that the witnesses submitted to the court were all staffs at a company called NAMIRA, which is owned by Nazim and at the centre of the alleged corruption.  The court concluded at the time that staff involved in the alleged fraud could not be presented as witnesses and dismissed their statements.

At today’s hearing, the prosecution lawyer was reported as stating to the court that it was apparent that staff at NAMIRA had not benefited at all from the alleged corruption. The lawyer argued that they therefore would not have had any involvement in the case had they not been asked by Nazim himself.

Before concluding today’s hearing, the presiding judge announced that unless the court required clarification on any further details of the trial, a verdict on the case would be delivered during the next hearing.

Deputy Speaker Nazim was not responding to calls at time of press.

In late 2009, Nazim was charged with multiple counts of conspiracy to defraud the former Atolls Ministry.

However, in February 2012, the Criminal Court dismissed the case against Nazim and ruled that there were no grounds to prosecute him.

The alleged corruption at the centre of the trial – first flagged in an audit report released in early 2009 – involved paper companies allegedly set up by the defendant to win bids for projects worth several hundred thousands dollars.

The case began in late 2009, after police uncovered evidence that implicated Nazim in a number of fraudulent transactions.

At a press conference in August 2009, Chief Inspector Ismail Atheef said police had uncovered evidence that implicated Nazim in fraudulent transactions worth over US$260,000 (Mrf 3,446,950).

Police exhibited numerous quotations, agreements, tender documents, receipts, bank statements and forged cheques proving that Nazim received over US$400,000 in the case.

A hard disk seized during a raid of Nazim’s office in May 2009, allegedly contained copies of forged documents and bogus letter heads.

Police further alleged that MP ‘Red Wave’ Saleem actively assisted from the atoll ministry. Meanwhile, Nazim’s wife, Zeenath Abdullah, was accused of abusing her position as a manager of the Bank of Maldives’ Villingili branch to deposit proceeds from the scheme.

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Police forward Disaster Management Centre case to PG

Police have forwarded a MVR 24 million (US$1.55 million) corruption case involving the National Disaster Management Centre to the Prosecutor General, calling for charges against nine people including former head of the centre, Abdulla Shahid.

In a statement issued today police confirmed the case was forwarded to the PG and called for the prosecution of Abdulla Shahid, 50, Mohamed Shahid, 53 (the brother of parliament speaker Abdulla Shahid), Ahmed Najah, 24, of Maradhoo in Addu City, Ahmed Arif, 49, of Henveiru Everglow, Mohamed Waheed, 53, of Eydhafushi in Baa Atoll, Abdulla Saeed, 49, of Hoadedhoo in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll, Abdulla Hassan, 56, of Henveiru Sosunmead, Moosa Ali Kaleyfaanu, 49, of Kandholhudhoo in Raa Atoll, Ahmed Shammoon Zahir, 23, of Mahchangolhi Blackpool.

The case was first forwarded to police by the Auditor General on April 19, 2012, while the Anti-Corruption Commission forward the matter on January 18, 2013.

Police thanked the Anti-Corruption Commission and Auditor General’s Office for assistance in investigating the case.

The case involving the Disaster Management Centre concerns an audit report produced by the Auditor General. In the report, the Auditor General alleged that MVR 24 million (US$1.5 million) was fraudulently obtained from the budget allocated for the centre for the year 2009 and 2010.

The Auditor General’s special report into the case alleged that the Disaster Management Centre had photocopied, edited and reused ‘Credit Purchase Order Forms’ in 2005, to withdraw the MVR 24 million from the centre’s budget at the Finance Ministry.

The ‘Credit Purchase Order Forms’ were originally given to the Disaster Management Centre in 2005 to withdraw cash from the Tsunami Recovery Fund.

The Auditor General’s report also suggested that the Finance Ministry was complicit in the alleged fraud.

In March 2012, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) sent a corruption case to the Prosecutor General’s Office concerning the Disaster Management Centre and a housing project carried out on Gan in Laamu Atoll, following damage suffered in the 2004 tsunami.

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Finance Ministry requests suspension of vehicle domain number sales

The Ministry of Finance has requested authorities cease selling domain numbers for land vehicles pending an investigation into whether funds are being collected through the scheme in accordance to the Public Finance Act, local media has reported.

The suspension of domain numbers, an alternate form of registry for land vehicles, had been taken on advice from the attorney general, Transport Authority Chair Abdul Rasheed Nafiz has told Sun Online.

Nafiz said that a third sale phase for domain numbers was to have originally been announced this week, but had since been suspended due to the Finance Ministry’s request.

Finance Minister Abdulla Jihad had his phone switched off at time of press.

Domain numbers – a condensed, four digit format of vehicle registration – are sold through an online auction with starting prices of MVR 25,000 for cars and MVR 15,000 for motorcycles, according to local media.

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Climate institutions in “flux”, consolidation needed for Maldives Green Fund success: leaked Transparency report

The Environment Ministry claims climate mitigation and adaptation projects have not been affected by government instability, however leaked draft Transparency Maldives reports indicate that climate governance institutions are in a state of “flux” and suffer from a lack of accountability, including the proposed Maldives Green Fund.

Currently, the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MEE) is implementing MVR 3.1 billion (US$201,298,810) worth of climate projects, which does not include donor funded programs implemented by “other sectoral agencies” and NGOs, MEE Environment Analyst, and contributor to the MGF’s establishment, Aishath Aileen Niyaz told Minivan News.

In an effort to merge all the currently established trust funds in accordance with the government’s Biosphere Reserve sustainable development policy, President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik’s cabinet recently proposed the establishment of a Maldives Green Fund (MGF).

“The Maldives Green Fund is designed to work as a national entity that would comply with international fiduciary standards for enabling, appraising and financing projects,” explained Niyaz.

“The MGF will act as both a funder and guarantor of projects in the areas of renewable energy and energy efficiency, biodiversity conservation, water management, waste management and capacity building and research in these areas,” she continued.

The current US$9.5 million Climate Change Trust Fund (CCTF) and US$138 million the Sustainable Renewable Energy Project (SREP) have been designed to complement the MGF, with both projects allocating resources for MGF capacity building, according to Niyaz.

“It is envisaged that by the time these projects are concluded, the MGF will be in a strong enough position to take manage such funds and take on the lead responsibility for such projects and in the Maldives,” said Niyaz.

She further explained that to protect climate funds from fraudulent practices “checks and balances” are in place, such as government anti-corruption procedures derived from financial laws and regulations, as well as rules of the implementing international organisation.

Niyaz also claims that government instability has not affected climate finance in the Maldives.

“Since most of the [climate change related] projects were ongoing at the time of [the 2012 government] transition, there was no real impact on their implementation. Furthermore, the negotiations for pipeline projects continued on pace,” she stated.

Meanwhile, “It is a general concern from Transparency Maldives’ studies that institutions in the Maldives, including climate institutions, are in a state of flux and not consolidated. New ones are being created and existing ones inactive or ineffective. This results in confusion, waste, delays, and duplications,” states a Transparency Maldives (TM) MGF Policy Brief dated December 17, 2012.

TM estimates that approximately US$160.5 million is being spent on various climate adaptation and mitigation projects through externally funded grants and loans, while an additional US$ 279,480,275 is required for short-medium term (10 years) adaptation and a further US$ 161,500,000 will be needed for long-term (40 years) adaption, states a Transparency Maldives Climate Governance Integrity Mapping of Climate Finance draft report.

“The fact that the state is a transitional democracy, with only emergent institutions of horizontal and vertical accountability, has posed significant challenges to climate change governance. The lack of a legislative framework for the sector also exacerbates the situation,” said the report.

“Moreover, the country is grappling with corruption and lacks effective governance mechanisms to address the issue. In 2010, Maldives was placed at 143rd on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index, with an average score of 2.3, indicating that perceived levels of corruption in the country are very high,” it continued.

The Maldives lacks a comprehensible overall institutional framework and comprehensive policy for addressing climate change, which adds to the confusion of the existing climate change mandates, TM identified. Additionally, no comprehensive database of climate projects currently exists.

This has resulted in ad hoc monitoring and evaluation of climate projects and institutional rivalry between ministries, according to TM.

“Another major challenge in climate change governance is the lack of experts in this area. The key climate experts of the country have multiple responsibilities and a very demanding schedule to fulfill their obligations. They are on multiple governing bodies…,” noted the report.

TM also highlighted the challenges that exist for ordinary citizens to gain access to information, including climate change related projects, despite the existence of a regulation on the right to information.

“Given that most official institutions are based in the capital island of Male’, accessing these information is especially challenging for the majority of the population who reside in other islands,” the report stated.

“In principle establishing a ‘green fund’ to consolidate climate change mitigation and adaptation money is ‘ok’ as long as it adheres to international best practices and good governance standards,” Transparency Maldives Climate Governance Senior Project Manager Azim Zahir recently told Minivan News.

Transparency Maldives had not responded to enquiries at time of press.

MGF plan

“One of the aims of the Maldives Green Fund is to roll out the Baa Atoll Conservation Fund – the funding arm supporting the Baa Atoll Biosphere Reserve – model to the entire country,” said Niyaz.

“The MGF will provide access to funds in simpler procedures for the private sector,” she added.

Essentially the MGF will function “largely as a co-financier of projects, and will work diligently to engage the financial support of other sources”, states a December 2012 draft 2 of the MGF triennial spending strategy 2013-2015.

MGF financial support – in the form of direct grants, interest rate subsidies and soft loans – will be available to “public institutions (including schools, hospitals, etc), small and medium sized enterprises, NGOs, government institutions at all levels, and natural persons,” notes the document. However, it “should be additional to other available sources of finance and not a replacement for them”.

The Maldives government is to provide the initial capital for the MGF, totalling MVR 3 million (US$194,805).

“The Fund’s limited resources will not be used to finance projects or activities that should normally be undertaken by government institutions and financed by government budgets, e.g. compensation and salaries of government authorities, trips of governmental officials to conferences, development of laws and policies, etc.,” both the December draft spending strategy and October 2012 draft 1 operational manual specify.

Despite these proposed regulations for project funding, the December 2012 MGF draft 5 legislation, provides MGF board of directors members remuneration in the form of a “fee for their work” and “reimbursement of expenses” to attend board meetings.

“The level of fees for participation in the work of the Board of Directors shall be defined by the Board of Directors itself, taking into account compensation fees for Board of Directors members of similar government companies established in the Republic of Maldives and complying with the provisions of the President’s Decree as regards maximum permissible levels of administrative costs,” as stated in Fund Governence, section 2 article 12 of the MGF draft legislation.

Compensation for board of directors members is also included under administrative costs in the fund spending policy section four, article 12.

The MGF board of directors will be comprised of a chairperson from the MEE and representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency, Ministry of Finance and Treasury, Local Government Authority, Maldives National Chamber of Commerce and Industries, as well as Maldives Association of Tourism Industry and a non-governmental environmental organisation.

The 2013 budget will allocate US$166,320 for personnel compensation and US$7,000 for administrative expenditures.

However, the MGF education and research priority area will receive US$66,690.

As a supervisory mechanism, the MGF will establish an independent integrity unit and redress mechanism that will report to the board of directors, as specified in the draft legislation section 5 article 16.

“In line with the provisions of the President’s Decree, the Ministry of Environment and Energy [providing a chairperson for the MGF board] shall receive full and unrestricted cooperation from the Fund in order to exercise adequate administrative control and supervision of the Fund’s operations,” reads draft legislation section 2 article 43.

The draft legislation, operations manual, and triennial spending strategy documents were prepared by Æquilibrium Consulting for the MEE.

MGF recommendations

MGF documents, including the Operations Manual and Legislation were not provided to stakeholders like Transparency Maldives prior to the stakeholder conference on 11 December finalising MGF documents, TM claimed in their Maldives Green Fund Policy Brief.

Despite being given “insufficient time (a week)… to comment more specifically and comprehensively on documents of such a technical nature,” TM highlighted a number of MGF issues.

They recommend that the MGF be established through People’s Majlis (Parliament) legislation, notPresidential Decree, given that the “MGF is created to handle large sums of public money and projects and programme implemented for the public”, said the policy brief.

TM also identified the potential for MGF board members to have conflicts of interest which would “compromise independence of the directors” and recommended the government reconsider appointing an independent board.

They also “encourage that declarations of financial interests and disclosure of conflicts of interest be made public,” noted the policy brief.

Given that “minimal reference” is made to or incorporated from the Code of Corporate Governance, TM also recommended a code of conduct be established for all MGF employees which elaborates mechanisms, responsibilities, operations, and practices.

“Bringing forward” educational awareness and research activities is also emphasised, to ensure these activities “have the necessary impact during project cycles”.

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Fictitious labour demand fuelling “systematic” migrant abuse in Maldives

Registered companies across the Maldives are freely abusing visa regulations by wildly exaggerating or even fabricating construction or business projects to traffic foreign workers into the country, an immigration source has alleged this week.

The source told Minivan News that almost no human verification was being undertaken by authorities to ensure workers were genuinely employed once a business or construction project was approved.

This lack of verification was allowing paper companies in the Maldives to submit fictitious contracts or structural designs to the immigration department to obtain a disproportionately high quota of foreign workers.

In theory, a Maldivian company could submit design plans for an existing structure such as Manchester United’s 75,811 seat Old Trafford Stadium – and then be assigned a computer-generated quota of foreign workers, the source claimed.

“Companies are recruiting people [abroad] for their own financial benefit,” the immigration source said. “They are producing the image that they are in need of labour.”

Fictitious applications could be made with little fear of a company or individual facing legal action,  due to the lack of any formal verification process for new building or work sites once authorised by a staff member at the immigration department, the source alleged.

“A company can simply produce a document or structural drawing from the internet, which they can submit online to obtain a work quota,” the source claimed. “If you tried using a design for a building like Velenagee, that is obviously known, but out on the islands [in the country’s outer atolls], verification is much harder,” he said.

The Maldives has appeared on the US State Department’s Tier Two Watch List for Human Trafficking for three consecutive years. Should the Maldives drop to tier three – the worst category – then the country is expected to face significant reductions in aid and potential travel restrictions on its citizens.

Minivan News was told that even with the implementation of an online visa registration system, the immigration department was failing to cross reference companies registered with the Maldives’ trade ministry to ensure that their stated businesses and labour requirements were genuine.

In one case detected this year, the source said that immigration officials had discovered that one ten-storey construction project in the capital had been given a quota of 120 foreign workers despite already being fully built and furnished.

“If someone is not going to check projects in person, this system is completely open to abuse,” the immigration source added.

Foreign workers were paying as much as US$4,000 to labour brokers to come and work in the Maldives, explained the immigration source, creating an incentive for the creation of false jobs on the Maldivian side. This fee is then divided between traffickers operating in the source country and the Maldives.

The Maldives does not presently have legislation allowing authorities to press charges against individuals directly for the offence of human trafficking – with legislation presently under review in parliament.

However, the immigration source said that it was still possible to penalise any Maldivian suspected of trafficking foreigners into the country on the grounds of contravening the Maldives Immigration Act, ratified in 2007.

“If a Maldivian tries to go against this law they should be penalised with very heavy fines. The law has been in place since 2007,” the source claimed. “Yet has anyone been fined for illegal immigration activity? The answer is no. The legal authority to do this is there.”

Immigration Controller Dr Mohamed Ali told Minvian News earlier this week that while almost all foreign workers coming to the Maldives arrived under registered companies, some were finding themselves “illegally used” by employers due to “systematic abuse” of the visa system.

Legislative challenges

Another source who has held senior positions in the Maldives criminal justice system, under both the current administration of President Dr Mohamed Waheed and the government of former President Mohamed Nasheed, said the country faces several challenges in prosecuting human traffickers.

Speaking to Minivan News on condition of anonymity, the source claimed that prosecutors were using outdated legislation set out in the country’s 1967 penal code that had not anticipated a crime such as human trafficking when it was first ratified.

In recent years, the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) worked with foreign organisations such as the Australian government to help draft legislation against human trafficking and people smuggling, according to the source. The bill has also been viewed by their US government to ensure “conformity” with its own requirements.

As a result, the source said that in recent years the PG’s Office had dealt with several cases of alleged human trafficking, which notably included a group of foreigners  found with a large number of forged passports.

However rather than prosecuting the suspects of charges of human trafficking as alleged by the police, they were instead prosecuted on charges of forgery.

“In that case, forgery carried a heavier punishment than any other possible provisions that could be used to prosecute on ‘human trafficking’ charge (i.e Section 88(a) of the penal code). In the Maldives, we don’t have to charge someone for multiple offences if it was committed at the same time,” the source claimed. “Prosecutors have to choose the most dangerous crime and proceed.”

The legal source suggested that in other suspected human trafficking cases raised by police, alleged victims were still provided the opportunity to contact authorities or transfer money abroad, requiring much more scrutiny to identify if those involved may have been smuggled illegally into the country.

“Additionally, because there are no laws defining what human trafficking is, the risk was that if we prosecuted someone for human trafficking and tried to set a precedent, the judges were not exposed (or forward thinking) enough to convict someone of the crime,” the source claimed.

“It was too risky to try something new and risk putting someone so dangerous on the loose. So the general idea was to be cautious.”

With human trafficking legislation remaining under review in parliament, the legal source claimed that “smooth implementation” of any new laws was required to make sure all Maldivian authorities, as well as criminal justice systems across the region, understood their obligations towards prosecuting human trafficking.

Corruption was identified as another major concern by the source concerning the value of illegal labour to the Maldives economy. One former Bangladesh High Commissioner in the Maldives alleged back in 2010 that the exploitation of foreign workers in the country rivaled fishing as the most profitable sector in the national economy after tourism.

The government has in recent months launched a special campaign intended to raising awareness of the rights of foreign workers.

Addressing the current scope of unregistered foreign labour, Maldives Association of Construction Industry (MACI) former President Mohamed Ali Janah said earlier this year that an estimated 40 percent of the foreign employees in the sector were thought not to be legally registered.

Considering these numbers, Janah said he could not rule out the involvement of organised crime in certain employment agencies, which supply a large amount of foreign labour to building sites in the Maldives.

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Former Police Commissioner Adam Zahir faces corruption charges

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has asked the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) to press corruption charges against former Commissioner of Police Adam Zahir over the alleged embezzlement of MVR65,817 (US$4,268) from the police budget.

According to the ACC, the funds were released in 2008 to purchase return tickets for Adam Zahir’s wife from Manchester, England to Male’ to attend a function to mark the police golden jubilee.

The ACC investigators however found that Zahir’s wife was not out of the country at the time.

While a payment voucher for the trip included an Emirates Airlines ticket slip dated April 7, 2008, immigration records showed that Zahir’s wife was in the Maldives between March 26 and April 9 that year.

Immigration records also showed that Zahir’s wife did not travel on Emirates Airlines at all in 2008. The ACC discovered that she had arrived in the Maldives on a British charter flight from First Choice Airways.

The commission therefore asked the PGO to prosecute the former police chief for abuse of authority and embezzlement.

A senior officer of the now-defunct National Security Service (NSS), Zahir became the first Commissioner of Police when former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom established the Maldives Police Service as a civilian law enforcement agency under the Ministry of Home Affairs.

During the reform movement led by the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), Zahir was accused of overseeing torture and custodial abuse, making his resignation a perennial opposition demand.

He resigned in November 2008 after the election of President Mohamed Nasheed.

Wikileaks cables from the American Embassy in Colombo meanwhile revealed that the former police chief was seen as part of the “old guard” opposed to political reforms under President Gayoom.

In December 2005, Sri Lankan police raided the Colombo office of the then MDP-affiliated Minivan News publication upon request from the Maldivian authorities, which alleged that Minivan staff were engaged in seditious activities and gun-running.

“In a December 29 meeting with poloff [political officer], an American contractor who works with law enforcement officials in Colombo said that his police contacts informed him the request for the investigation had been signed by Maldivian Chief of Police Adam Zahir and sent to the Interpol Liaison Desk. The contractor said the Sri Lankan police suspected  the charges were politically motivated, but were compelled to  follow up because of their serious nature,” the cable read.

In January 2006, former Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed – part of the ‘New Maldives’ group of young ministers associated with Gayoom’s reform package – told the US Embassy political officer that the raid on the Minivan office was “utterly shameful.”

“Shaheed expressed  concern that the raid undermined the ‘New Maldives’ agenda he and several other reform-minded ministers are promoting. Describing the police chief as ‘someone we are at war with,’  Shaheed added that he had encouraged the president to shift  Zahir from his current position,” reads the cable.

In 2006, reformist magazine Adduvas exposed a number of MPs and regime officials who had taken soft loans from former President Gayoom, including Zahir, who had obtained loans totalling MVR8.7 million (US$677,000).

In August 2009, Zahir was summoned to the presidential commission set up by former President Nasheed to investigate allegations of corruption and misappropriation of state funds under the former regime.

At a ceremony on March 29 this year to commemorate the 80th anniversary of police, Zahir was awarded a special plaque by President Dr Mohamed Waheed “in remembrance of his dedicated and invaluable services rendered to MPS.”

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Umar Naseer alleges PPM primaries rigged, declares “war within the party”

Former Interim Deputy Leader of the Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM), Umar Naseer, has declared a “war within the party” against the “dark forces” he claimed had taken root within the party and vowed to bring in a “white revolution” to cleanse it from what he alleged included drug lords, gangsters and corruption rings.

Naseer made the remarks during a rally held on Tuesday evening, following his humiliating defeat in the PPM’s presidential primary.

The former military sergeant was at the losing end of the party’s primary held to determine its official presidential candidate, gaining just 7,450 votes – 5,646 votes less than his rival, the Parliamentary Group Leader of PPM MP Yameen Abdul Gayoom, who won with 13,096 votes – 63 percent of the vote.

Naseer – who is one of the founding members of the PPM – told supporters he had to battle the “entire machine” of the party during the primary, claiming that his opponent had every advantage in the race.

“Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s children were with Yameen, the largest gangsters in the country were with Yameen, all the drug cartels in the country were with Yameen, the most corrupted people were with Yameen, the whole elections committee was with Yameen and a large chunk of PPM’s parliament members gathered around Yameen.

“We came out knowing that the referee, the linesman and even the match commissioner along with his 11 players were playing on his side. Our team had the poor and the middle class players,” Naseer claimed.

Even though Naseer admitted defeat, he claimed the party’s election had huge discrepancies including influencing of voters, vote buying and intimidation of his supporters.  He also alleged that many of his supporters were denied the right to vote, claiming that their names had not been on the lists.

“We even witnessed that those who are heavily involved in drug trafficking were present at the polling station wearing Yameen’s campaign caps,” he said. “Not only did they exert undue influence, they travelled to islands with stashes of black money and attempted to turn the votes. In fact they even did turn some votes.”

Naseer further alleged that the hands of the elections officials involved in administrating the elections were tainted and had played a significant part in his defeat.

“On Kelaa in Haa Alif Atoll, they added the remaining ballot papers as votes for Yameen. On Fodhdhoo in Noonu Atoll, they took ballot papers that had my name ticked and invalidated it by ticking next to Yameen’s name. No ballot box was placed on Thulhaadhoo in Baa Atoll, but astonishingly results came from that island too,” he claimed.

“White revolution”

Despite the discrepancies, Naseer contended that he would not take a “single step back” and would remain firm in cleansing it of “dark forces”.

Naseer claimed his team would bring about a “white revolution” within the party, and declared war against corruption and gangs within PPM.

“This battle will be fought within PPM’s grounds and this battle will also be won within the lines of PPM,” he claimed, as supporters roared in support.

Naseer stated that although he had congratulated Yameen regardless of how he had won the primary, Naseer warned that he would not back him should he associate himself with people Naseer believed were corrupt.

Referring to recent remarks made by the Deputy Speaker of Parliament Ahmed Nazim – who claimed that he would join PPM very soon – Umar Naseer expressed his concern over “people who are renowned for corruption” joining the party.

“Remember, I told you about a corruption network. In just less than 24 hours after our colleague Yameen won the PPM primary, the most notorious figure within this corruption network, Deputy Speaker of Parliament Nazim, announces that he is joining the PPM. This is not a sheer coincidence,” Naseer claimed.

“I want to tell my colleague Yameen that he will never get my support if he keeps corrupt people like Nazim behind him. Some people may say that certain things should be done in the party interest, but there are times where this country should be bigger than the party to us,” he said.

“Money money cash cash okay?”

Meanwhile, in an audio clip of a phone conversation leaked to social media, a profession Yameen supporter attempts to buy the votes of Naseer supporters through a person identified in the clip as Ahmed ‘Mujey’ Mujthaba.

Mujthaba – who seemed to have been involved in Yameen’s primary election campaign on Gemanafushi in Gaaf Alif Atol – was given instructions to trade cash for votes on the island.

According to the audio recording, MVR 300,000 (US$ 19,455.25) was wired to Mujthaba, of which he was to distribute MVR 200,000 (US$ 12,970.17) among potential voters while he was to keep the remaining MVR 100,000 (US$ 6,485.08) for himself as “a small reward”.

“Hey Mujey, don’t tell this to anyone,” speaks a voice, who identifies himself as ‘Ismael’ and claims to be one of Yameen’s campaign managers.

“Not even a single person okay Mujey? This is between me and Mujey. This is between us.  What you should do is, distribute the 200,000 rufiyaa. The remaining 100,000 rufiyaa you keep it to yourself. Okay? You should do this very secretly, no one should know about this.”

Ismael is also heard asking Mujthaba to “destroy PPM MP Ilham Ahmed’s family” during the process. MP Ilham – who is the MP for Gemanafushi Island constituency – had supported Umar Naseer in the primaries.

Mujthaba claims that MP Ilham’s brothers in Male’ had called PPM members on the island and had said “they would give them a two-way ticket to India in return for vote”, to which Ismael responded that Ilham did not have the funds to pay such a large sum of money.

“They can’t give that to them now. They won’t have money even close to the amount of money we have. Not even close to ours. They’ll just keep bragging about that. So what you should do is go to their houses. Just go to their houses and wire in the cash and get all the votes. What you can do today is all that you can do, okay? There will be nothing else we can do after today,”

“Hey, you will also get a reward. If we can do this, you will get 100,000 rufiyaa, we have decided that. We have decided to give you 100,000 rufiyaa if you win this vote for us Mujey. Isn’t it a good reward?” he added. “Yes, if you can get the majority from that Island, you will get 100,000 rufiyaa,”

“Money money cash cash okay?” Ismael was repeatedly heard to say.

Minivan News sought to verify the authenticity of the recording, however Yameen and his campaign team were not responding to calls at time of press.

Speaking to Minivan News, Youth Wing Leader of PPM Ahmed Nazim – who is also involved in Umar Naseer’s campaign team – said that he did not wish to comment on the matter.

Translation of the audio clip

ISMAEL: Hey I am saying, everything is going alright now is it?

AHMED MUJTHABA: Yes. It will be alright

ISMAEL: So, how are things with opponents? [Repeatedly asks]

AHMED MUJTHABA: They are also there. They will also work in their capacity right?

ISMAEL: Not too many [people] right?

AHMED MUJTHABA: We are all good here. Not too many [people] working with them.

ISMAEL: I’ve called to arrange some cash.

AHMED MUJTHABA: I don’t think it is going to be very bad.

ISMAEL: Why? We have been getting information that Umar’s people are really weak.

AHMED MUJTHABA: Yeah. Last night, some of his supporters roamed around the island with cash. They even showed us the cash too. I don’t have any guarantee on their success; some people did not even accept the money.

ISMAEL: But for us…

AHMED MUJTHABA: They went to the house with the money.

ISMAEL: Aah…If they accept the money they would obviously vote in that manner. That is a big problem isn’t it? So, we also have to do that from our side, give a little bit more.

AHMED MUJTHABA: So then?

ISMAEL: Mujey we can arrange 200,000 rufiyaa immediately if you want.

AHMED MUJTHABA: We won’t be able to get it by today right?

ISMAEL: No. You can get it through Sheesha Ahmed. Isn’t Ahmed’s family [living] there, his wife’s family?

AHMED MUJTHABA: Hmm yeah.

ISMAEL: So when you say you want, handing over the money to Ahmed gets the job done.

AHMED MUJTHABA: Yeah.

ISMAEL: So what should I do?

AHMED MUJTHABA: Well, then let me talk to others and call back?

ISMAEL: No wait, I have a condition too. You will have to destroy MP Ahmed Ilham’s family in the process. Can you do that?

AHMED MUJTHABA: Wait, he was the one who got me a job. He was very upset with me. My family members have called me bull shit.

ISMAEL: Is it?

AHMED MUJTHABA: So destroy these people.

ISMAEL: That is why I have come out with courage.

AHMED MUJTHABA: Yes, this time this family should be destroyed. You have to be able to do this.

ISMAEL: He will be gone this time. This time very sure…yeah?

AHMED MUJTHABA:  This is something you should be able to do. On the other hand, islanders, people from your area are quite stupid. You should be able to control these people.

ISMAEL: I have a big family in this island. Our family is not an ordinary family. All our family members are against him. No one will be there to support them. That’s why, when it became intolerable, they have come out with cash.

AHMED MUJTHABA: Ilham’s brothers in Male have called us and said that they would give two-way ticket to India in return for vote. That is the level they had gone to. So they are very very desperate.

ISMAEL: They can’t give that to them now. They won’t have money even close to the amount of money we have. Not even close to ours. They’ll just keep bragging about that. So what you should do is go to their houses. Just go to their houses and wire in the cash and get all the votes. What you can do today is all that you can do, okay? There will be nothing else we can do after today.

ISMAEL: Then, people in your area are really dumb, isn’t it? Usually islanders are very dumb isn’t it? They have been made dumb and stupid.

ISMAEL: Hey, you will also get a reward. If we can do this, you will get 100,000 rufiyaa, we have decided that. We have decided to give you 100,000 rufiyaa if you win this vote for us Mujey. Isn’t it a good reward?

AHMED MUJTHABA: We will win you the votes from here. I am guaranteeing you that you will get majority from this island.

ISMAEL: Yes, if you can get the majority from that Island, you will get 100,000 rufiyaa. What?

AHMED MUJTHABA: I don’t want money for doing that.

ISMAEL: Yeah yeah…

[Voice becomes unclear as two begins to talk at the same time]

ISMAEL:  Hey listen to this. This money is something that is a secret between you and me. People giving money, this is not related to this. You should not tell this to even your friends.

AHMED MUJTHABA: Yes…

ISMAEL: Understood?

AHMED MUJTHABA: Hmm…

ISMAEL: This is not something I am giving to your group or people helping you. So this shall remain between us only. This is how the boss as has asked me to do, okay?

AHMED MUJTHABA: Hmm… You called last night as well right?

ISMAEL: Yeah. Yes. Hey bro, [repeatedly calls]. Money money cash cash alright? Understood?

AHMED MUJTHABA: [Laughs].

ISMAEL: Money money cash cash okay?

AHMED MUJTHABA: Don’t worry. I am saying you will get majority from this island by the will [of God].

ISMAEL: Yeah…Yeah.

AHMED MUJTHABA: You wait and see at 4:00pm today. I will call you today.

ISMAEL: Ahh…very good.

[Separate phone call]

ISMAEL: Is it Mujey ?

AHMED MUJTHABA: Yeah yeah true, it is Mujey.

ISMAEL: I called you, Ismael.

AHMED MUJTHABA: Yeah.

ISMAEL: Yeah, I said issue with money has been settled and finished. The money has been given to Ahmed. Who would be receiving the money from your end?

AHMED MUJTHABA: I don’t mind giving it to me. You can give this number.

ISMAEL:  Ah okay. So I should give your number right?

AHMED MUJTHABA: Hmm.

ISMAEL: What should I say? You should tell your full name Mujey. Then only isn’t it we can settle it.

AHMED MUJTHABA: Yes. Ahmed Mujthaba. Note it down.

ISMAEL:  Ahmed Mujthaba right?

AHMED MUJTHABA: Yes…Mujthaba. Should I give you my ID Card Number?

ISMAEL: Yes, tell me your ID Card Number [Mujthaba gives his ID Card Number]

ISMAEL: 2881…okay. Hey Mujey, don’t tell this to anyone. [Speaks in a hush voice] Not even a single person okay Mujey? This is between me and Mujey. This is between us.  What you should do is, distribute the 200,000 rufiyaa. The remaining 100,000 rufiyaa you keep it to yourself. Okay? You should do this very secretly, no one should know about this.

AHMED MUJTHABA: Yeah OK.

ISMAEL: Remember okay?

AHMED MUJTHABA:  OK.

ISMAEL: Alright then. We will inform the person that you will go to collect the money. Okay, take your ID Card with you.

AHMED MUJTHABA: OK.

ISMAEL: Thank you bro!

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