MP Shujau also pulled from SOE Committee, where he serves as chair, in wake of FIU report leak

The ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) has pulled the party’s second top parliamentarian, Ibrahim Shujau, from a second key parliamentary committee, the State-owned Enterprises Committee, where he served as chair, in the wake of the leak of a report compiled by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) flagging MVR 42.5 million in suspicious financial transactions linked to the Baarah representative.

The analysis report, which covers transactions from November 1, 2023 to January 10, 2024, was leaked via anonymous X account ‘Hassan Kurusee’ on Saturday afternoon. It includes an MVR 23 million contract awarded to Sifainge Welfare Corporation (SIWEC) for the 2023 presidential inauguration, which SIWEC subcontracted to three companies linked to Shujau, including his event management company Official Events.

On Tuesday morning, Speaker Abdul Raheem Abdulla, the chairperson of PNC, announced that Shujau has been removed from the SOE Committee and replaced with Ihavandhoo MP Ahmed Naseer. He also announced that the Judiciary Committee’s deputy chair, Huraa MP Dr. Anara Naeem has been replaced with Vilufushi MP Hassan Zareer.

The latest changes made by PNC to their representatives in committees come a day after Shujau was pulled from another key parliamentary committee, the Public Accounts Committee, and moved to the National Development and Heritage Committee.

While the PNC has not provided an official explanation for the changes, it comes amid mounting public outrage over the allegations of corruption against Shujau – allegations that the police said they have been investigating since April, and the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) said they have been investigating at their own initiation since late last year.

But on Saturday, shortly after the report leaked on social media, Shujau wrote in a post on X that he does not know whether the report is fake or real “because I haven’t received any information regarding this from any official authority.”

The leaked report covers transactions linked to the Baarah parliamentarian from November 1, 2023 to January 10, 2024. This includes transactions related to President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s presidential inauguration on November 17, 2023 – an event organized by the Parliament secretariat. According to the report, SIWEC was awarded an MVR 23 million contract for the event, which then subcontracted the project to three companies.

• MVR 13 million to Shujau’s Official Events
• MVR 4 million to DG Holdings
• MVR 2.3 million to Quick Sure, a company owned by Shujau’s cousin Mohamed Nafiz

According to the report, Shujau and his business partner Ahmed Adham used MVR 8 million out of MVR 13 million received by Official Events to purchase two luxury apartments from Hulhumale’.

Official Events received over MVR 29 million in major event management contracts from different government agencies and state-owned enterprises, particularly after the election of the PNC administration.

And between 2022 and 2023, Quick Sure also received MVR 10 million from the Male’ City Council. This was back when Shujau was serving a councilman and President Muizzu as Male’ City mayor.

The FIU made the following observation:

• The funds received by SIWEC were possibly misappropriated
• Shujau had been closely involved in the transitional period of the PNC administration, and even attended and led meetings with SIWEC and the Parliament secretariat regarding the inauguration ceremony preparations, which ultimately resulted in substantial financial gains for him – indicating possible misuse of authority, corruption and illicit enrichment
• Shujau and his close associates and related companies significantly benefitted from the inauguration ceremony
• Other than the 2023 inauguration ceremony, Official Events has also been awarded numerous major event management contracts from different government agencies and SOEs since the PNC administration came to power, suggesting Shujau may have leveraged his political influence to gain preferential treatment for his company and related other entities, directing towards potential misuse of corporate vehicles for laundering funds possibly acquired through illicit means

The FIU concluded that the involvement of government officials, former parliamentarians and a close associate of a politically exposed person, as well as the apparent layering of the transactions indicate that the transactions and entities must be further investigated. The unit concluded that the layering of the transactions is also an indicator of disguising the true legal and economic purpose of transactions, often intended to hide the source of funds and create a complex paper trail, making the intended purpose of certain transactions questionable.

The allegations of corruption are denied by Shujau, who maintains that Official Events is a proficient event management company that has secured government event contracts throughout different administrations.

The aftermath of the leaked report also saw Abdulla Ashraf replaced by Ismail Sajid as the head of FIU, with the former shuffled laterally to the Risk and Compliance Unit of the central bank.

The MMA denies the move has anything to do with the leaked report, describing it as changes made “to improve the efficiency” within the central bank.