Harshest penalties for corrupt public service leaders: Judge

Chief Judge of Criminal Court Adam Mohamed stated in yesterday's ruling against former Fenaka Corporation Managing Director Ahmed Saeed that leaders of public service companies who are convicted of corruption should be handed out the harshest sentences prescribed in the law. 

Saeed was found guilty of abuse of an official position, and was sentenced to four years in prison. This case concerned Fenaka making payment to Blazon Inc. under a 2018 agreement before the work was concluded, without ascertaining whether the contracted work had been completed, and before a letter of completion had been provided. While this remained so, Fenaka entered a new agreement with the company in 2019, and once again disbursed funds. 

Also prosecuted in this case was then-Procurement Head Mariyam Dheena Salih, Maizaange, Hoadhadu, Fuvahmulah. However, she submitted documents to the court, stating she could not attend yesterday's hearing due to health reasons. Hence, the Court decided to postpone Dheena's verdict by five days. With this, the court only announced the verdict against Saeed yesterday. 

Once Saeed was found guilty beyond doubt by the Court, the prosecution and defence were granted the opportunity to express their views on sentencing. 

The prosecution stated that there are no circumstances which required the sentence against Saeed to be either increased or decreased, and hence requested for the minimum sentence for the offence to be passed. 

This is a level 4 offence in the Penal Code, carrying a 1 year, 7 months and 6 days prison sentence. 

Saeed's defence asked for a more lenient penalty, stating that he had not been convicted of any offences previously. They further said that it is evident that he had done the actions he was convicted for based on legal advice received. They asked for the sentence to be lowered two levels, which would then set a prison sentence of 4 months and 24 days. 

Saeed also appealed for one third of this 4 month sentence to be commuted to a fine. 

In announcing the sentence, the Judge stated that although the prosecution said there are no circumstances calling for the penalty to be increased, there are, in fact, many such circumstances. 

He said that the case concerns Fenaka senior officials giving money to a group that failed to complete the agreed work, and that from the initial agreement to the settlement agreement, these actions had caused a loss of MVR 805,600 to the State. 

"It is extremely concerning that such major acts of corruption by those leading companies such as this run on public funds would inevitably lead to widespread corruption and malpractice within the entire company," the ruling reads. 

The Judge stated that such actions, taken to secure undue benefits for certain individuals, would drive up the company's operational costs - ultimately forcing a rise in service prices to offset the impact. 

"Ultimately, it is the general public that bears the brunt of these actions. Hence, I believe that leaders of public service companies who are convicted of corruption should be handed out the harshest sentences prescribed in the law."

"Corruption within state companies has become rampant. It has spread to the point where corruption and misappropriation of State funds is considered the norm," the Judge said. 

Chief Judge Adam Mohamed also expressed concerns that it is only in rare cases that a person convicted of a crime such as corruption is appropriately penalized. Even in cases where they are penalized, the penalty is relatively low, failing to act as a deterrent for others who may commit similar offences. 

Based on this, Judge Adam Mohamed sentenced Saeed to four years in prison, the highest penalty prescribed in law for the offence of abuse of an official position.