Ministry, PCB and board blamed for Fenaka’s financial state

Auditor General’s Office has said the financial situation at Fenaka Corporation during the previous administration was the result of negligence by the company’s board, the Privatization and Corporatization Board (PCB), and the Ministry of Finance.

Assistant Auditor General Ibrahim Aiman speaking at the Parliament's Public Accounts Committee today, said Fenaka’s board of directors, responsible for the company’s financial oversight and strategic direction, had failed to fulfil its duties.

“The board has not made any decisions on the company’s in-house projects,” Aiman said, adding that it had neglected its responsibility to monitor Fenaka’s operations and guide it appropriately.

He further noted that both the PCB and the company’s management had failed to take corrective measures.

“They did not take steps to strengthen the company or properly review its accounts,” he said.

Aiman also criticized the Ministry of Finance for its handling of Fenaka’s requests for funding.

“We noticed that several hundreds of millions were being paid each time a letter was sent. The Ministry should have looked into why the company was repeatedly requesting tariff advances,” he said.

The Finance Ministry is the custodian of all state financial affairs. It should not have released funds so easily.”

According to Aiman, Fenaka’s financial deterioration was the result of failures across all the agencies responsible for its oversight.

A special audit conducted by the Auditor General’s Office covering the years 2021 to 2023 revealed that Fenaka took loans and advances totalling more than MVR 1.2 billion, with the participation of the Finance Ministry.

These included a loan of MVR 400 million from the Maldives Islamic Bank (MIB), MVR 618 million in tariff advances from the Ministry of Finance, and a further MVR 231 million loan through State Trading Organization (STO).

The audit also found that Fenaka had awarded a project worth MVR 1.3 billion without a public tender during the government of former president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.

Several of these projects were awarded to companies owned by individuals affiliated with the then-ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).