Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), on Thursday, forwarded a case to the Prosecutor General's Office, requesting charges against two leading officials at the State Trading Organisation (STO).
ACC is seeking charges against head of STO's medical service department Hussain Sobah and the department's planning manager Hamdhan Faiz, for procuring pharmaceutical medicine at prices that caused losses to the state.
The corruption watchdog revealed that the two individuals ordered a shipment of a medication in December 2018, despite the previous shipment ordered in May 2016 expiring in March 2018 with a large proportion of it remaining unsold.
As per ACC's investigation, there was no documentation that any inquiry was conducted to ascertain the demand for the medication in the Maldivian market prior to placing the order for the 40 milligram dosage of the medicine. Previous orders only consisted of 10 milligram and 20 milligram shipments.
Under a license and supply agreement with a pharmaceutical company, the order for 560,000 tablets incurred a cost of MVR 2.9 million.
Less than five percent of these tablets were sold while the remaining expired in March 2018. Overall, the transaction resulted in a loss of MVR 2,787,457.13 for STO.
According to ACC, doctors that testified during the investigation stated that the medication, used to treat heart attacks and strokes, is typically prescribed in 10 or 20 milligrams. As a result only a minimal number of patients require the 40 milligram dosage, with doctors not prescribing it for long-term usage.
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