Author: Mohamed Reehaan
The Maldives Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has submitted a request to the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) to press charges against former Fenaka Corporation employees for embezzlement. ACC made the request to PGO to press charges against three ex-employees earlier on April 10, 2025. All three individuals are alleged to have embezzled petty cash issued to Fenaka Corporation’s Addu City, Hithadhoo Central Power Station (CPS) project. The charges are being brought against former Deputy Director of Projects Department, Ahmed Sathish Saeed; former Senior Engineer of Projects Department, Mohamed Aasidh; and one Supervisor stationed at Addu’s CPS. The former employees will be facing…
Housing Development Corporation (HDC) on Tuesday, has announced the appointment of its newest board member, Ibrahim Tha’am Mohamed. Privatization and Corporatization Board (PCB), the watchdog authority of all state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in the Maldives, confirmed Tha’am’s appointment effective Tuesday onward. Prior to his appointment to HDC’s board, he had been the State Minister of Construction, Housing, and Infrastructure. Tha’am is also the replacement of Mohamed Waheed, who was removed from the board earlier on April 6, 2025. HDC did not specify a reason for this dismissal. The board of HDC consists of 10 members. Earlier on December 19, 2024 all…
The Maldives government has held discussions with a senior delegation from global social media giant Tiktok about introducing monetization for local content creators. The Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, in a post on X on Tuesday, April 15, said senior officials from the ministry met with a delegation composed of Tiktok’s upper echelon who are currently visiting the Maldives. The ministry said that discussions primarily focused on introducing new and potential collaboration to unlock new avenues for digital monetization for Maldivian content creators on Tiktok. Tiktok’s content creators earn income via the Creator Rewards Program, which compensates them for…
The former Managing Director of Fenaka Corporation, Ahmed Saeed and the company’s Chief Accountant Mohamed Massood are facing corruption charges tied to a dubious procurement. Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has reported the two men are alleged of misconduct, and abuse of power in extracting illicit benefit through a procurement deal. The deal in question is tied to the acquisition of an ice plant developed at AA. Maamendhoo by a private company called Kaizan Investment. The two men have been alleged of acting in violation with Fenaka Corporation’s procurement policies. A report from ACC noted that while the decision to acquire the…
According to the Bank of Maldives (BML), the largest banking network in the island nation, its ATM network records a total of MVR 99 million transactions on a daily basis. The bank shared statistics related to the bank’s ATMs on Monday. Statistics confirm a daily total of 30,000 transactions of which MVR 28.6 million is deposits. Transactions across other atolls reach a daily average of MVR 41 million with MVR 12.3 million out of this total being deposits – that is 15,000 transactions at a daily capacity for the atolls excluding Greater Male’ region. The bank is also providing its…
The Public Accounts Committee of the Maldives Parliament has given the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) until the end of April to submit a key asset recovery bill to the legislative body. This demand comes after the committee expressed concern on Monday that state coffers were stolen and invested in purchasing land and apartments in Hulhumale’. The bill in question has been drafted by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) with support from international consultants, with the bill already submitted to AGO. The AGO has yet to finish its review and submit it to the parliament. At a Public Accounts Committee meeting on…
The Maldives Parliament’s Deputy Speaker Ahmed Nazim on Monday, April 14, has stated that a criminal investigation has been requested against Dubai-based Executors General Trading, over its alleged involvement in a corruption scandal. The company was contracted by the Maldives government in 2020 amid the Covid-19 global pandemic, to procure ventilators to treat Covid-19 patients in critical conditions. The company however, never delivered the ventilators. The Ministry of Health, under the previous state regime, entered into a MVR 34.50 million contract on April 2, 2020. The deal was to procure 75 ventilators during the pandemic. Executors General Trading (EGT) delivered…
According to statistics from the Maldives Monetary Authority, the National Reserves observed a moderate 5% decline at the end of March 2025. The National Reserves dropped to USD 791 million by March end, whereas it stood at USD 832.1 million by the end of the preceding month – indicating a 4.9% decline. This also marks the first time the country’s National Reserves has observed a drop following gradual month-by-month increment since September 2024. National Reserves Growth September 2024: USD 371.2 million October 2024: USD 614.6 million November 2024: USD 616.2 million December 2024: USD 673.2 million January 2025: USD 708.1…
The Maldives government has introduced new flexibilities for citizens aged 60 years and above in operating land vehicles. With this license elderly citizens can operate motorbikes and pickups. According to the 2021 regulation on the provision of driving licenses to operate land vehicles, no provisions cited the requirement for a special license. The regulation had only set out the policies in issuing licenses for persons with disabilities. The amendment to this regulation has introduced the new provisional element that facilitates the requirement of a special license for elderly citizens, which is extended to those who undergo a mandatory four-hour training…
Following the new amendments that were made effective since January 2025, Green Tax revenues collected to the state has almost doubled, reports the Ministry of Finance. According to the Ministry, the state has collected a total of MVR 400 million as of March 20th in Green Tax, compared to the MVR 233 million collected in the corresponding period last year. With the amendments, tourist properties that were previously settling USD 6 per head per stay is now settling Green Tax at the rate of USD 12 per head per stay, which is a 100% increment on the rate. The current…