Charges sought again on Fenaka officials for paying for unfinished work
Shamoon and Najah signed a letter sent by Schwack Maldives to Fenaka on November 6, 2017 stating that the work has been completed, even though it had not.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Sunday sent a complaint to the Prosecutor General's (PG) Office seeking prosecution of two former heads of Fenaka in a case related to the release of funds before completion of the work to a person assigned by Fenaka Corporation in 2017 to build a billing software.
Schwack Maldives Pvt Ltd was entrusted with the task of building billing software for the customers of Fenaka, but the work is yet to be completed. However, the agency's investigation revealed that funds were released by issuing a document stating that the software was complete.
In September, the agency first forwarded a request for filing a chargesheet in the case to the PG's office. However, the PG sent it back to the ACC at that time to rectify the case. In a message to the media, the agency said, "The matter has been referred back to the PG today”.
This time too, the ACC has sent a request for prosecution in the case against:
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Ismail Shamoon, head of the then ICT department, M. Fehividhuvaru/Male
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Ahmed Najah, head of the sales department, Dhaftharu no. 13142
They were earlier asked to be charged with corrupt practices. However, when the case was amended and sent back to the PG, the agency sought that two FIRs be framed against both the accused.
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Charges of abuse of official position - under the penal code
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Charges of misusing official position to gain undue advantage - under the Prevention of Corruption Act
Here are some of the highlights of the Contract between Schwack Maldives and Fenaka:
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The ICT department should check and approve the work
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After completion of each phase, the invoice submitted by Schwack Maldives should be approved by the ICT Department
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Work should be completed by November 8, 2017
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The work is likely to have been completed once the software is designed and used
Here are some of the points that ACC had pointed out earlier:
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The ICT department has not looked into the quality and authenticity of the work done by Schwack Maldives
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It is Shamoon's responsibility to check quality and authenticity
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Schwack Maldives has not fulfilled many of the requirements mentioned in the agreement to be in billing software
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Work is yet to be completed since October 15, 2018
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Shamoon and Najah signed a letter sent by Schwack Maldives to Fenaka on November 6, 2017 stating that the work has been completed, even though it had not
Acc said Fenaka paid MVR 1.3 million to Schwack Maldives.
"... As we know that [the money] has gone missing from Fenaka Corporation, we have asked Fenaka Corporation Limited to recover the amount," the agency said in a message to the media on Sunday evening.
