Charges sought against 3 ex-officials over Covid ventilator graft
Due to lack of evidence, the Prosecutor General's Office did not file a charge sheet and rejected the case.
By
Mariyam Umna Ismail
Three ex-health ministry officials’ names have been sent to PG to face charges in the missing ventilator case.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has forwarded a complaint to the Prosecutor General's Office (PG) seeking prosecution of three people who were previously in key positions in the Health Ministry in connection with alleged corruption in the purchase of 75 ventilators for treatment of Covid-19 critical patients via a Dubai-based company.
During the health emergency declared in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the ministry signed an agreement with the Executor company in April 2020 to purchase 75 ventilators. The company paid MVR 30 million, which is 90% of the contract, without obtaining a guarantee as per the company's request. Since then:
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Received 15 used ventilators
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Could not attain the rest of the ventilators
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Audit sought $2.1 million (MVR 32.3 million) in compensation
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On August 10, 2021, they were notified to pay MVR 31 million within 30 days
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After the Executor company failed to respond to repeated notices for payment, the government decided to go for arbitration
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Though the process of filing the case for arbitration began earlier this year, it has not yet been referred to arbitration
The government said this month that the delay in filing the case was because it was looking for lawyers to represent it in arbitration through an international tender.
The ACC has filed an application this Tuesday for framing of charges in the case against:
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1-
Former deputy health minister Shiyama Mohamed, Pink House/S. Feydhoo
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2-
Ahmed Aslam, former director of the health ministry
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3-
Ali Shiham Fairygarden/L. Gan, formerly served as legal officer at the health ministry
ACC has repeatedly asked former health minister Abdulla Ameen and members of the bid committee to be prosecuted for negligence in disbursing funds to Executors. However, due to lack of evidence, the Prosecutor General's Office did not file a charge sheet and rejected the case.
In August, ACC filed the case after the PG office refused to prosecute. Since the ACC filed the case, Prosecutor General Hussain Shameem had told the parliament's judiciary committee that the case could still be filed "after amending".
