The Settlement Committee formed by the administration of former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has been ordered to cease implementation of their decisions to compensate various individuals with over MVR 1 billion worth of funds and goods through the State.
The Settlement Committee created by the previous government for the purpose of compensating persons faced with terminated agreements was annulled by President Dr Mohamed Muizzu. Amid the many complaints issued by multiple parties at the time, the committee had concluded the cases with a mandate over the State to issue large amounts of compensation to in return.
According to the President's Office, by the time the Settlement Committee was dissolved, it had committed to issue over MVR 225 million to various parties in compensation. In addition to funds, the committee had also decided to offer various goods and properties of the State as compensation. When valued, the funds, goods and properties belonging to the State offered as compensation by the Committee amount to as much as MVR 1 billion.
During a press conference held by the Attorney General's Office on Wednesday, Attorney General Ahmed Usham stated that a number of these cases offered compensation were in the middle of court trials at the time of the Committee's ruling and that some among them were clearly cases that would not have succeeded in trial against the State.
Furthermore, he added that some other cases were settled with large compensation values directly in contradiction of the counsel provided by the Auditor General's Office.
Usham revealed that ten cases settled by this committee is presently under review. He further stated that both the Ministry of Finance, as well as the Ministry of Tourism, had been informed to halt proceedings on all matters determined by the committee.
“These 10 cases have been forwarded to the Auditor General's Office. This is so that the Auditor General can conduct an assessment to ascertain whether the amounts quoted as settlements are justified, and to determine how these values were reached,” Usham said.
He had stated that further actions regarding this case will be determined once these assessments and the reviews of the Attorney General's Office are concluded.
Initiated by the former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, the Settlement Committee was first established on January 27, 2019. The Committee aimed to compensate the victims of unlawful agreement terminations by former President Abdulla Yameen’s administration.
However, the Anti Corruption Committee (ACC) had heavily criticized this Committee and raised the issue at the Parliament. The Parliament had then advised the Executive to ensure that a system of integrity and transparency be set up to issue compensations with regard to State projects. With this, the committee was brought to a temporary halt, during which guidelines were formulated. Once the these guidelines were confirmed as policy, the committee resumed its work.
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