Maldives Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) confirms the authority is probing three cases of fraud related to Covid-19 socio-economic crisis.
The independent commission's president Mariyam Shiuna confirmed this during her recent appearance at the committee of independent commissions at Maldives parliament.
The commission was attempting to seek any acts of corruption and fraud in the state bodies amid the ongoing economic crisis.
Maldives government announced several major actions taken in an attempt to reduce economic impact of locals and businesses. Government is expected to provide financial relief through local banks while several funding or loan schemes through various financial institutes have been announced to remedy detrimented businesses.
Several counter measures, which includes a recent announcement of a new loan scheme from SME Development Finance Corporation (SDFC) exclusive for local media outlets among other options.
Meanwhile, government earlier announced a MVR2.5 billion economic stimulus package to offset damages of businesses.
Anti-Corruption Commission have been closely monitoring these state initiatives for any acts of fraud or corruption.
The cases include a possible corrupt conduct in the acquisition of ventilators to treat coronavirus patients. ACC president confirmed relevant documents, evidence and other writings related to the case have been gathered into the authority.
The ACC president held on plausible deniability over presence of corrupt conduct in the case.
The commission is also investigating alleged unethical influence by state elites and officials to guarantee seats for members of their family on repatriation flights from abroad. The incident is believed to have been related to the rescue and repatriation flights from Malaysia and Philippines.
A third case of 'crisis profiteering' involving state bodies exploiting the current economic crisis to favor specific businesses in the acquisition or procurement of trade goods, is under ACC probe as well.
The commission claims relevant documents with regards to the cases have been requested from Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Health and Island Aviation.
