Couple behind deception of audit, council members unaware

The Dhidhhoo Island Council of Alifu Dhaalu atoll revealed that the council's secretary-general and her husband, were responsible for providing false information to the audit office, violating rules, and doing so without the council's knowledge.

A compliance audit report issued by the Auditor General's Office concerning Dhidhhoo council's performance in the year 2022 revealed that the council's IT and financial consultant had attempted to deceive the auditors by altering the council's bank statement.

While the Auditor General's Office has mandated that the matter be pursued as a criminal investigation, the report also highlighted concerns about the council renting a house for the Secretary General to reside in.

In a statement issued today, Dhiddhoo council said that it was orchestrated by the Secretary General, who is from Alifu Dhaalu atoll's Mahibadhoo, and her husband who is from Faafu atoll's Nilandhoo. They detailed that the husband in question was the IT and financial consultant on site.

The statement said that the council did not have a strong system to maintain financial accounts and that they had announced to hire a secretary general multiple times to no avail, which is when the individual from Mahibadhoo agreed to to take up the position on the condition that housing be provided. The council further detailed that the decision to hire the individual was made after consulting relevant agencies.

It also read that upon approval from relevant agencies, the council rented a house from Dhidhhoo in February 2022 for a monthly rent of MVR 5,500 out of which MVR 4,500 was paid for by the council while the other MVR 1,000 was paid by the Secretary General herself.

The council said that on the advice of the Secretary General, they hired additional staff to strengthen its operations and made efforts to protect its financial accounts and assets. They added that she also advised to hire an IT consultant and a financial consultant, which was attempted three times. However, when no candidate came forward, the council decided to hire the Secretary General's husband for as an IT and financial consultant.

According to the council, although they had not decided to hire him as a financial consultant, the hire was made based on the recommendation of the Secretary General in reference to the ACC's response.

"We sent a letter to the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) requesting advice on hiring of the above mentioned individual as an IT consultant. Their response was that. there are no reservations against hiring him for the job. However, SG advised to hire the same individual as a financial work as we, based on the approval granted by the ACC to hire a consultant," the council said.

The council went on to stay in the statement that when repeatedly asked whether the necessary permits were obtained to hire her husband, the Secretary General had said yes. However, the truth came to light only when the Auditor General's Office published the report, the office said.

Further details in the statement say that the Secretary General later confessed to this in a meeting held with all employees of the council in attendance. She also admitted that although an employment contract was drawn up, the documents were never in fact signed.

"From the moment the council received this information, it became evident that the Secretary General had previously provided false information to the council," they said.

The audit also revealed that a total of MVR 138,517.99 was transferred from the council's accounts to the IT and financial consultant's account. This money was used to pay electricity bills for various government offices and to purchase supplies for the council. These transactions occurred between May 21 of last year and July 23 of this year, they said.

Reports say that the Secretary General has since resigned from the job since the case came to light, and that the IT and financial consultant has also now been dismissed from his job.