The Anti Corruption Commission has filed the case of former Health Minister Abdullah Ameen who was investigated for the ventilator corruption case that surfaced at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking to 'The Press', Senior Communication Officer at ACC Mohamed Nishan said that the Commission had thoroughly investigated the allegations of corruption surrounding the purchase of ventilators from a contractor in Dubai and that it had sent the case to the Prosecutor General's office to file charges on three occasions.
Nishan said that however each time the PG office had sent back the case to the ACC without pressing charges against those accused of the corruption.
He noted that only the PG Office has the power to press charges and the ACC can only investigate allegations of corruption.
Nishan said that the former commission had sent the case over to the PG on three occasions.
The ACC had asked the PG office to charge 11 individuals including the former Health Minister Ameen.
It has been reported that the cases relating to Ameen and 8 others have now been filed while the cases related to 3 other individuals are currently pending.
Back in 2020, a compliance audit report by the Auditor General Office highlighted significant irregularities in the procurement of ventilators.
It revealed a total of MVR 30.9 million had been in advance to Executor General Trading (Dubai) for the procurement of 75 ventilators and that to date no ventilator has been delivered to the country.
In the report, the Audit Office said that it found that the party has been selected to procure ventilators without assessing its financial and technical capabilities.
The Auditor-General recommended relevant authorities investigate the bidding and awarding of procurement of Ventilators from local parties, in view of the lack of fair and competitive bidding.
