The Auditor General's Office stated yesterday that a portion of the MVR 29.6 million that was lost after it had been collected as sublease payments from private companies from plots that had been subleased by the Football Association of Maldives (FAM) in order to build a football training school at Hulhumale' Phase 1 was deposited to the account of a foreign currency exchange company. The money was to be given back to FAM in the form of US Dollars, but the funds were never returned, with it having been lost as well.
As per the Audit Office's special audit report, a plot of 230,000 square feet was given in Hulhumale' as per the agreement between FAM and HDC on 11th July 2018 in order to build a football training school.
FAM subleased the plot to 15 parties for the construction of accommodation blocks, with those transactions occurring between 2021 through 2024.
As per the audit report, FAM was supposed to receive more than MVR 56.1 million via the 15 sublease agreements that were made between 2021 to 2024. The Auditor General's Office stated that of that amount, FAM received MVR 52.2 million, with their records showing this transaction as well.
More than MVR 29 million has been lost
The Auditor General's Office stated that a total of MVR 29,598,200, which was obtained by FAM through the sublease agreements, has been lost without it seeing any use:
- Receipts were prepared to show that FAM had received MVR 14.10 million
- MVR 14.7 million was deposited into the accounts of the Finance Director and private accounts
- MVR 1.42 million was withdrawn in physical cash
The audit report reads that none of the funds had been deposited into FAM's account, with it being apparent that the physical cash had been withdrawn but not used for any of FAM's purposes.
Of the MVR 14.10 million from cash and cheque payments for the rental of plots and floors, receipts had been signed by some Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) heads, with payment vouchers being used as well according to the Auditor General's report. The report also states that three MMA heads at the time had signed and imprinted the MMA's stamp onto the documents.
Of the MVR 14.10 million:
- Then-Finance Director Mohamed Ageel signed off on the document that stated FAM had received MVR 9.9 million
- Former FAM President Bassam Adeel Jaleel signed off on the document that stated FAM had received MVR 3 million
- The General Secretary at the time signed off on the document that stated FAM had received MVR 1.1 million in physical cash
Even though the receipts and payment vouchers which state the subleasing of plots had been stamped and signed, the audit report reads that there are no details regarding the funds in any of FAM's documents.
"None of these funds were deposited into FAM's bank accounts. It has been made apparent that the associations cash registries nor other documents have any record of the physical cash nor it being used for FAM," as was written in the report.
MVR 14.7 million of the MVR 29 million that was lost had been deposited into the former Finance Director's account, accounts of various individuals and companies as well.
USD is deposited into FAM's account by FIFA and the AFC. However, a large portion of the MVR 14.7 million was used to purchase dollars from a Maldivian company.
A large portion of that had been deposited into a foreign currency exchange company by the name of MS Finance Currency Exchange Pvt Ltd.
Of the MVR 14.7 million, MVR 8.9 million was deposited to the private account of the company. However, the Auditor General stated that none of FAM's documents show as to why the funds were deposited to the company's account.
The audit report reads that MS Finance Currency Exchange Pvt Ltd had stated the funds that were sent to them were meant for foreign currency exchange transactions.
The audit report further reads that a total of 13 USD transactions via cheques were processed by the company and deposited to them between 2022 to 2023 on various dates.
FIFA and the AFC deposits funds to FAM in the form of US Dollars. However, the Auditor General stated that the reason FAM would buy dollars from a private company is only for illegal benefits.
"As FAM is an association that receives revenue from foreign currency and as it is unclear from the records whether it constitutes a situation as to whether such an amount in MVR was to be sent to other parties, the transactions can be seen as an attempt to acquire illegal benefits via the sublease payments from the slot plots that were given to FAM," as was written in the audit report.
Even though FAM deposited MVR 8.9 million to MS Finance Currency Exchange Pvt Ltd, Auditor General Niyazy stated that the company did not offer any of their services or do any other work for FAM. The audit report also highlighted that FAM were unable to reacquire the funds.
FAM deposited the money to the company a few days after FAM received the sublease payments.
Of the MVR 5,084,670 that FAM had received, money had been deposited to the then-Finance Director's account, seven private accounts and five company accounts, as per the audit report. It is unclear as to why the money was deposited into their accounts in the first place.
The MVR 5.08 million split:
- MVR 2.8 million to private companies
- MVR 1.4 million to private accounts
- MVR 800,000 to the Finance Director's account
The Auditor General's report states that it is clear that the funds deposited into the Finance Director's account is not a part of the remuneration nor benefits he is supposed to receive.
The name of FAM's Financial Director was not written down in the audit report. When the alleged fraud had occurred, the Financial Director at the time was Mohamed Ageel. He was apprehended while he was on the run in Thailand and is currently being held in remand.
Unclear as to what happened to the physical cash from the MVR 1.4 million
As was written in the audit report, MVR 1.4 million from the MVR 29.5 million that was obtained as sublease payment which was lost was withdrawn from FAM's accounts as physical cash from 2022 to 2023.
The Auditor General has looked into the case, with him recommending the relevant agencies conduct a criminal investigation in finding the missing MVR 29 million and those who are responsible.
While FAM received that money, they had not paid the rent, with the HDC repossessing the plot from FAM in 2024.
