15 HDC staff fired during investigation phase

15 employees of the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) have been let go from their jobs to facilitate the ongoing criminal investigation into the Gedhoruveriyaa/Binveriyaa scheme frauds, launched by Maldives Police Service and the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC), at the order of Prosecutor General Abbas Shareef.

According to local media outlet Mihaaru, among those let go are Chief Financial Officer Abdulla Faid and Chief Business Officer and the head of media Ahmed Yameen. The pair were initially suspended on Thursday.

Additional employees have also been suspended, Mihaaru reports.

According to Mihaaru, all but one who were fired today were close with former MD of the corporation, Fazul Rasheed.

Issues regarding the Binveriyaa scheme came to light this Wednesday after it was discovered that Fazul's brother and Deputy Managing Director of MWSC Fazeel Rasheed was given a land registration despite him not being eligible for a plot under the scheme.

With HDC's board under scrutiny, everyone on the board, except Chairperson Ahmed Nasif (Didi), has been suspended since Thursday. Their passports are also seized.

Nasif told Mihaaru today that HDC is taking necessary steps to facilitate the investigation. As such, the corporation is shaping its affairs to facilitate the investigations of the police and ACC, he said.

"The most important thing for us is improving the company's public image. Maintaining integrity. HDC is one of the largest companies in history. [We] have established policies and rules. So, [we] will cooperate with the investigation in a way that protects the interest of the people," Nasif said.

With Fazul resigning over the matter, former Construction Minister Mauroof Jameel has been appointed as the new Managing Director of the corporation. He was one of the pioneers in the dredging and development of Hulhumalé.

Although Mauroof was in the Construction Ministry when Hulhumalé's dredging began, he was still an active person in the project.

Later on, he served as the Director General of the Hulhumalé Development Unit formed under the President's Office. Following the establishment of HDC, he also served as the company's CEO for a short while. Mauroof left HDC when he was appointed Construction Minister in the last term of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom's government.

Nasif, who was appointed chairman of HDC last month, said the management would work with the new Managing Director to improve trust in the company.