Dubai court orders MVR 37 mn to Maldives in ventilator case

Yesterday, a Dubai court has ordered Dubai company Executors General Trading LLC to pay the Maldivian government MVR 37 million. This is in regards to the company being given a government contract of bringing ventilators to Maldives during Covid-19.

Attorney General Ahmed Usham stated today that a Dubai court had ordered the owners of Executors yesterday to pay AED 8.9 million (MVR 37 million) to the Maldivian government in the next seven days. The office said that if there is a failure in complying, next steps will be taken.

"If the money is not paid as per the order, then we will take the necessary next steps. We will work to obtain the money the state is owed," said Usham.

The contract was made in February 2020 during former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's administration between Executors General Trading LLC and the Health Ministry. Executors went back on the agreement, with the case being issued to a Dubai court in March 2024 by the Maldives government.

The Maldives government submitted the case to the Dubai court due to the company not complying to an arbitration ruling.

The charges state compensation for the ventilators that were not delivered by Executors, along with the damages caused to the government due to ventilators not being delivered.

Concerning the case, the arbitration said that along with compensation and money owed to the arbitration, the company is to pay MVR 32 million to the Maldivian government. The ruling was put forth a second time with a fine due to the company having still not paid. With that, the money owed to the Maldivian government rose to MVR 37 million.

As per Attorney General Usham, it was unclear where the company even was when the arbitration was underway. They have not released a statement either. Due to the company being registered in Dubai, the case was submitted to Dubai courts.

When the danger of Covid was at its peak in the country, the Maldivian government gave the company MVR 34 million without a bank guarantee. This large sum was paid without checking the company's ability in providing the ventilators. The audit report and ACC's investigation report revealed that no details were procured about the company. The ventilators had not been delivered since the agreement.

Even though Executors had sent a partial shipment of the first set of ventilators, they weren't of any use. The Ministry asked the company to return MVR 31 million as the rest of the ventilators hadn't been delivered. However, that money was not paid back either.