Two doctors to be charged with tax fraud in PCR testing

Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) is seeking to press charges against two doctors for tax fraud, committed by Pioneer Maldives and Island Health Solutions - two companies that provided large-scale PCR testing during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

MIRA has forwarded the names of Dr Ikuleel Shareef, a director at both companies, and Dr Ali Abdulla Latheef, a director at Island Health Solutions, to the Prosecutor General's Office, seeking to press charges. 

In a statement issued today, MIRA stated that although the two companies were leading providers of PCR testing when the demand was highest during the Covid-19 pandemic, it has come to the authority's notice that they significantly marked down taxable revenue in their Income Tax statements. 

MIRA launched an investigation into this, and discovered that the company had failed to report full earnings in 2020, 2021 and 2022, from PCR testing, as well as other services provided by Pearl Medical Centre, operated by Island Health Solutions. 

Pioneer Maldives was one of the first to offer PCR testing in the country, and in addition to the general public, they had provided the service to tourist facilities in 2020 and 2021. However, they failed to disclose full earnings from these services in the financial statements and Income Tax statements submitted to MIRA. 

MIRA revealed that following unusually high earnings in the tax year 2021, the company excluded inflated Cost of Sales and administrative expenses to lower its tax liability. 

The Income Tax statements submitted to MIRA by Island Health Solutions failed to include MVR 31.9 million as taxable revenue, and Pioneer Maldives, MVR 102.7 million, MIRA stated.

Audits conducted by MIRA in relation to this investigation revealed that Island Health Solutions owed an additional MVR 4.3 million in taxes and Pioneer Maldives owed MVR 23.7 million in taxes. MIRA stated that the companies were directed to make these payments. 

MIRA said that in addition to the companies, Dr Ikuleel Shareef and Dr Ali Abdulla Latheef were found to be key figures involved. 

MIRA has requested the PG Office to file charges against both doctors, and is also pursuing charges against Ali Fayaz, who prepared the companies' finance and tax records in this period, for intentionally falsifying information.