The investigation into the suspension of MIFCO CEO and Managing Director Ahmed Shamah Rasheed brought new issues to light.
During a meeting held yesterday, the State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) committee of the Parliament summoned senior officials from Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO) and the Privatization and Corporation Board (PCB) to investigate the suspension of MIFCO CEO and Managing Director Ahmed Shamah Rasheed. However, new issues arose in the meeting.
MIFCO, which currently faces several financial issues, is accused of participating in a number of scams involving fish exports, oil business and many other matters. There were serious allegations that some of the employees in the company were participating in “illicit businesses” and making financial gains out of it. There were also allegations that it has been going on for a lengthy period of time.
Speaking to the committee, Samah said the biggest loss faced by MIFCO is the rejection of a large quantity of fish exported by the company. On some occasions, 3,000 tons of fish are exported and 500-800 tons of it is rejected per shipment. One possible reason for this is the high histamine levels found in the fish.
“There are allegations that there are things happening behind the scenes and certain people benefit from it”, he said.
He also stated that after proper weighing of the fish, some shipments are exported out of the country and there are instances where there is a shortcoming of 500 tons.
According to him, a team from MIFCO travels to Bangkok to investigate the cases but the trips do not benefit the company.
“There are reports that there are benefits when the teams travel there”, he said. “I stopped it on the third day after taking office. So far, nothing has resulted in our favour through any of the trips this team has made”.
Samah mentioned that one example is the sudden loss of oil in the middle of the ocean. However, he did not elaborate on the issue.
MIFCO CEO Bureau Secretariat Ibrahim Saeed (Cade) alleged that the corruption within MIFCO has been taking place since Shamah’s suspension. He also said that a procurement process worth millions of MVR is also ready to begin.
This includes a rapid procurement process to overhaul ‘Jazeera Boat 104’ bought for fish weighing work by MIFCO and procurement of two million tuna-canning boxes, as well as sunflower oil and soybean oil used in the canning of tuna has also started.
Ibrahim Saeed, a former presenter of Channel 13, alleged that 500 tons of rejected produce out of the exports were sold to other Thai businesses.
“We believe the attack on the CEO came as a result of his actions to bring a halt to this large scale [illicit] trade in Thailand”, he said. “We allege that they are keeping some employees of MIFCO on their payroll with this money”.
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