FSM staff involved in MVR 8 million fuel graft suspended

Managing Director of Fuel Supply Maldives (FSM) Mohamed Gasam, on Tuesday, revealed that the employee involved in the embezzlement of MVR 8 million from Maldives Ports Limited (MPL) was suspended.

Speaking to local media outlet Mihaaru, Gasam stated that the fuel bowser driver implicated over the matter was placed under suspension on Thursday.

Gasam, the former parliamentarian for the constituency of Thinadhoo, revealed that the employee's statement was collected as part of the ongoing internal investigation. He also said that receipts pertaining to all fuel deliveries for MPL were being reviewed under the inquiry.

The FSM Managing Director further disclosed that, at the time he assumed his position, several FSM clients complained that the full amount of fuel requested in orders were not being delivered. He noted that this particular complaint was most frequently lodged by resorts.

In order to address the issue, Gasam stated that fuel barges are now only cleared for departure after the logistics department contacted the resort to ascertain that the correct amount of fuel was prepared for delivery.

Following the implementation of the aforementioned policy, Gasam stated that complaints from resorts decreased considerably.

Highlighting that the strengthening of regulatory policies was an ongoing process, the FSM Managing Director assured that the company would hold discussions with MPL to ensure that such an incident did not happen again.

The illicit transactions conducted by MPL staff surfaced when an internal audit by the company revealed that bills for the months in which operations were reduced amid the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown, were consistently higher than those for previous months.

MPL requested FSM to inquire into the graft since the audit also confirmed that an employee from the company was involved in the matter.

Speaking at the Parliament's Committee on State Owned Enterprises, MPL CEO and Managing Director Shahid Ali stated that bills were forged for fuel supplies that were not delivered to MPL. He revealed that three employees from the procurement department were suspended over the matter.

Shahid assured that efforts were underway to prevent a repetition of such acts of corruption.