Case of Centre Enterprises submitting fake invoices forwarded to Police

The Attorney General's Office has requested the Police to conduct a criminal investigation into the case of private company Centre Enterprises submitting fake documents in support of their compensation claims against the State.

Centre Enterprises was registered in 2006 with three shareholders. These are Abdulla Arif, Ahmed Jamiz and Aleefa Ahmed, with Aleefa named as Managing Director.

The State has been ordered to pay large amounts as compensation to Centre Enterprises, and the Attorney General's Office has appealed for a special audit. The Auditor General's Office is now undertaking this audit. It was through this audit that it came to light that a fake invoice had been submitted regarding the case.

In a statement released by the Attorney General's Office on Thursday, they stated that they believe that a number of documents of questionable veracity had been submitted in the case submitted to Civil Court by Centre Enterprises. They said that the matter has now been raised with the Police, asking for a criminal investigation.

Centre Enterprises has filed a total of three cases at the Civil Court seeking compensation from the State for work they claim to have completed in 2006 and 2008. This includes supply of tanks to the Environment Ministry, and two cases concerning supply of medical equipment to the Department of Medical Services.

The statement from the Attorney General's Office said that they have appealed to the Civil Court to rule that the State does not need to pay compensation to the company as the supporting documents they submitted are fake. They said that they have appealed the rulings of the Civil Court and High Court in relation to these transactions.

The office further said that the State's reservations in relation to the case have been shared with the Auditor General's Office, which is conducting a special audit into the matter. They further said that a preliminary report of the audit has now been shared with the office.

The Auditor General's Office also advised a criminal investigation be conducted, the statement reads.