Audit: MVR 2.9 Million Paid During Imran’s Tenure to Demolish Non-Existent Building at Maafushi Jail

An audit report by the Audit Office has found that MVR 2.9 million was paid to a party to demolish a building that did not exist, during former Home Minister Imran Abdullah’s tenure as minister, under a project to build a high-security wing at K. Maafushi Jail. The Audit Office published the Home Ministry’s compliance audit report for 2022 and 2023 on 8 October. According to the report, work was carried out at K. Maafushi Jail to build a 50-cell high-security wing, an 18-cell building and a security post. The work was handed over to the Police Cooperative Society (Polco), reportedly to expedite the project. Polco then subcontracted the work, without any bidding, to a private company named Vee Ava Investment. Under the project, the audit report notes that MVR 2.9 million was included in the bill of quantities (BOQ) to demolish a building said to be in the area where the 50-cell work was being done and to clear the site, and that money for the work was paid to Polco. However, the audit report says Google Earth photographs taken on 20 January 2022, before the work was handed over to Polco, show that there was no building in that area at the time. The audit report therefore states that including the demolition of a pre-existing building and site clearance in the BOQ, and paying Polco for that work, amounts to paying for work that was not done. The audit also recommended that the matter be submitted to the Anti-Corruption Commission for investigation.