Shamheed says SOE graft files disappeared from parliamentary committee

Hulhumalé South MP Dr Ahmed Shamheed has claimed that documents relating to previous investigations into corruption in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) disappeared from the Parliament's Public Accounts Committee.

Shamheed made the remarks during a meeting of the committee on Wednesday, where members reviewed a special audit report on Fenaka Corporation's branches and projects in Addu.

The committee approved a motion to pursue further investigations into several issues identified in the audit.

During the meeting, Shamheed said some of the practices highlighted in the report, including the procurement of vehicles without public announcement and the withdrawal of petty cash using forged documents, were continuing.

He argued that the committee should focus not only on past cases but also on alleged ongoing misconduct.

"These practices are still taking place today. The responsibility of this committee is not limited to matters that happened years ago. Unless we stop what is happening now, there will be no benefit to the public," Shamheed said.

He also said that corruption cases rarely result in convictions or the recovery of state funds.

"In the Maldives, not even one per cent of those accused of corruption have been convicted, and the state has recovered very little of the money involved. If there is a genuine intention to address this issue, we must also stop what is happening today," he said.

Shamheed said the committee had previously begun examining ongoing corruption in state-owned enterprises, but the documents related to those investigations later disappeared.

"This committee started that work. But at one point, all of those documents went missing from the committee. If we do not investigate current cases and focus only on the past, these practices will continue," he said.

Responding to the remarks, acting committee chair and Eydhafushi MP Ahmed Saleem said the committee would examine such cases in the future and refer matters to the relevant authorities where necessary.

During the same meeting, the Public Accounts Committee also decided to request the Maldives Police Service to conduct a separate investigation into suspected money laundering after reviewing issues identified in the special audit report on Fenaka's Addu operations.