Malé, Maldives – The President of Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) of the Maldives Mariyam Shiuna has stated that the commission will complete the investigations on the ventilator corruption case by the end of this month.
ACC President Shiuna said that the commission is currently working to fulfil the missing components detailed by the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) and will make a decision on the case for a second time by Sunday.
According to Shiuna, the Prosecution requested two components; further investigations of the agreement for items that are damaging to the state and further financial investigations.
The former Minister of Health Abdulla Ameen and 11 employees of the Health Ministry were suspended or fired regarding the ventilator corruption case. The completed investigations by the ACC to date has provided no proof of a money trail connecting the 12 individuals to any profits from the ventilator corruption case.
While Maldives Ministry of Health has paid MVR 30.91 million to Dubai’s Executors General Trading LLC was contracted to supply 75 ventilators when the Covid-19 virus started spreading in the Maldives, only 15 ventilators had been supplied by them to date. From the 15 they had sent, 5 had missing parts which has not been accepted by the government.
The PG decided to review the case when new evidence came to light amid public criticism after refusing to prosecute twice previously.
Various attempts were made by the government of Maldives to attain the remaining ventilators but were unsuccessful.
