Former Fenaka MD Saeed charged with corruption

Ahmed Saeed Mohamed, the former managing director of Fenaka Corporation, has been charged with corruption.

The Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) announced that it filed charges with the Criminal Court on Thursday against two former Fenaka officials; Saeed and Mariyam Dheena Solih – who was serving as Fenaka’s procurement head at the time.

The case against them stems from a contract signed between Fenaka and Blazon Inc in 2018.

An investigation by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) uncovered that Blazon was paid by Fenaka before they completed the contracted work and without checking if they had completed the work.

Saeed and Dheena were charged with misuse of official authority under Section 513 (b) of the Penal Code.

They face a sentence of one year, seven months and six days in prison if found guilty of the charge.

According to PGO, their actions resulted in a loss of MVR 848,000 to Fenaka.

Saeed had headed the state utility company during the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) administration.

The incumbent People’s National Congress (PNC) administration, which defeated the MDP in the 2023 presidential elections, had described Fenaka as a “labyrinth of corruption” during the presidential campaign and has submitted at least 25 cases of alleged corruption during Saeed’s tenure to the ACC for investigation.

These allegations of corruption are denied by Saeed, who has had a travel ban order against him since October in connection to an ACC investigation.