Prosecutor General Hussain Shameem, on Tuesday, asserted that the evidence was not sufficient enough to press criminal charges against any individuals involved in the Ministry of Health's controversial procurement of 149 ventilators.
Shameem made the statement while speaking at a press conference held to elaborate on the announcement made by the Prosecutor General's Office earlier the same day, revealing that no charges could be pressed.
According to PG Shameem, the Attorney General's Office had expressed an opinion on April 2 that the bid committee had contracted and procured ventilators under Article 10.03 of the Public Finance Act which permits certain regulations to be forgone during a state of emergency.
Criticizing the regulation in question, PG Shameem revealed that the Ministry of Finance has now annulled article 10.03 of the Public Finance Act.
The prosecutor general also highlighted that ACC had found no evidence of the individuals receiving payouts from the companies contracted for ventilator procurement or related companies, during the watchdog's review of their individual financial records between January 2019 and Sept 2020.
Overall, PG Shameem stated that the actions of the officials in question were in accordance with the requirements of their positions. However, he stated that the negligence was possibly involved in the process and that it could have been handled better from an administrative point of view.
Reiterating that such concerns were not a sufficient basis for a criminal trial, the prosecutor general stated that "not everything against regulations can be considered corruption".
Shameem also highlighted a section in ACC's report which reveals that the advance payment to Dubai-based Executors General Trading LLC was finalised using false documentation concerning the receipt of 65 mechanical ventilators and 10 portable ventilators, despite the fact that the goods were not sent to Maldives. He explained that even ACC stated that this incident occurred because health ministry employees were unaware of any alternate methods to carry out the process.
Despite acknowledging the administrative weaknesses and negligence in the process of acquiring ventilators, Shameem reiterated that the actions of the officials involved could not be criminally tried.
On October 14, the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) requested the PG Office to press charges against Minister Ameen, Financial Controller Ahmed Aslam, two individuals that had reviewed and signed off on documents, in addition to several senior officials sitting on the health ministry's bid committee.
After submitting the matter to the PG Office, ACC announced its conclusion that State Minister of Health Dr Shah Abdulla Mahir did not participate in any acts of corruption whilst procuring ventilators and decided not to seek charges against him.
Three other members of the Health Ministry's bid committee - Deputy Minister Nishama Mohamed, Director Naushad Ali and Legal Officer Mohamed Abdul Ghani, were similarly absolved from acts of corruption.
ACC had launched its joint investigation with the Maldives Police Service in August, after the Auditor General's Office published a compliance audit on the Ministry of Health's COVID-19 expenditure, revealing that the ministry had spent over MVR 30 million in violation of the Public Finance Act.
As part of the government's COVID-19 response efforts, the health ministry had signed agreements with Naadu Pvt Ltd to procure 24 ventilators and MedTech Maldives Pvt Ltd to secure 50 ventilators, in addition to the 75 ventilators from Dubai-based Executors General Trading LLC.
Per the audit, the health ministry's negotiations with Executors were rife with corruption, including false claims that the order was placed following a recommendation by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The state has already paid MVR 30.9 million in advance for the 75 ventilators, covering 90 percent of the total cost of MVR 34 million.
The audit report also revealed that agreements with local companies Naadu Pvt Ltd and MedTech Maldives were formulated in a manner damaging to the state and seemingly, deliberately steered towards enriching certain entities.
Furthermore, while all three companies failed to procure the equipment before the specified deadline, 10 ventilators provided by Executors did not meet standards stipulated in the agreements and subsequently could not be used to treat COVID-19 patients.
Naadu Pvt Ltd and MedTech Maldives have now delivered all the ventilators the government procured from them.
After being summoned to the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee, the minister and other staff maintained that they had operated in line with the Public Finance Act and relevant procedures to procure the ventilators, asserting that nothing was done to facilitate corruption or illicit enrichment for any entities.
While Minister Ameen had recused himself from all official duties until the conclusion of the investigation on August 17, the Financial Controller and members of the bid committee were suspended by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.
The President's Office recently lifted the suspension on State Minister Shah and ordered him to resume his duties after ACC absolved him of participating in corruption.
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