MIFCO senior official Muaz Ali suspended after arrest in connection with stolen cigarettes

Muaz Ali, a senior official at MIFCO, was suspended from his post following his arrest.

He is one of four individuals arrested in connection with the disappearance of over 13.6 million cigarettes, which Customs had seized last April and stored at the MPL harbor.

Muaz, the General Manager of MIFCO’s Engineering and Projects Department, was suspended effective Wednesday. He was arrestedon suspicion of masterminding and carrying out the "theft" operation to smuggle the 13.6 million-plus cigarettes. Criminal Court remanded him into police custody for five days.

Last week, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) had also forwarded charges against Muaz to the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO). These charges allege that while he held the position of Senior Superintendent at Customs, he solicited a bribe to facilitate the illegal import of 430 cases of cigarettes into the Maldives.

MIFCO stated that as state authorities have begun investigating several issues involving Muaz, the company is also conducting its own internal administrative inquiry into the matters. Therefore, according to the regulations governing MIFCO employees, Muaz has been suspended from his job for a period of 30 days.

MIFCO statement added, "In connection with this decision, and to ensure that the company's work is not disrupted, necessary steps have been taken. The Project Management Unit of the Engineering Department has been assigned to Manager Mohamed Shameem, and the Engineering Unit has been assigned to Consultant Engineer Ubaidulla Hussain."

The state-owned fisheries company emphasized that although the company has no direct connection to the issue of the lost cigarette containers stored at MPL's Hulhumalé Port, the management takes matters concerning the integrity of its senior officials very seriously.

"To this end, the management assures the public that such necessary steps will continue to be taken as part of the ongoing efforts to uphold the company's trust and respect in a new spirit. We also inform that measures required in accordance with the laws of the Maldives, principles of corporate governance, and company policies will continue to be implemented in the future," the MIFCO statement read.

In addition to Muaz Ali, the other three people arrested in connection with the theft of the cigarettes, which were illegally imported in two 40-foot containers in the name of Saudi Arabia's Binladin Group on April 26 of last year, are two well-known businessmen, Mohamed Waheed (Dhigali), owner of Apollo Holdings, and Ahmed Aarif (Aatté), owner of Lotus stores, as well as Zivaar Ismail, a current senior employee of Customs and a top official at Hulhumalé Port.

All four individuals are being accused of orchestrating and executing the cigarette theft operation.

Regarding the investigation into the lost cigarettes, MPL stated that while no MPL employees have been arrested yet, six individuals have been suspended so far. The police said that 12 people have been banned from leaving the Maldives for the purpose of this investigation.

Customs had previously stated that the cigarettes, which were illegally imported, were kept for over a year at MPL's Hulhumalé Port because the investigation had not yet concluded. Customs discovered the items were missing from the harbor on the night of the 8th of this month.

The two 40-foot containers illegally imported into the Maldives held 1,360 cases of cigarettes, totaling 13.6 million cigarette sticks. Customs estimates that the duty for 13.6 million cigarettes, based on the standard prices for the seized brands, would amount to MVR 122 million.

Customs had previously reported that the smuggled cigarette boxes were discovered during an operation at the Hulhumalé Sea-Cargo Terminal, following intelligence that the items were being illegally imported within a plywood shipment.