Government annuls settlement agreements to private sector parties

The incumbent government has annulled a total of nine settlement agreements signed between the former government and private sector entities.

These agreements were made to compensate these companies for the losses they incurred owing to contractual disputes with the state.

The Attorney General’s Office on Thursday announced it had annulled these agreements and subsequently informed the relevant government agencies they need not to honour the settlement agreements.

Statistics of the Ministry of Finance reveal the previous government had paid over MVR 1.6 billion to private sector companies as compensation.

The Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee reviewed these agreements, that were apparently signed in accordance with relevant policies, and found they held no legal enforceability and were void. Besides ordering the agreements void, the committee had also urged relevant state bodies to recover any monies it had settled with private parties under the arrangement.

The committee further agreed to advice the Attorney General’s Office and other relevant state bodies to take necessary action against all culpable parties.

The investigation of the AG Office revealed the policy enacted by the former government towards providing monetary compensation to private sector companies was in contravention with the Maldives Constitution and laws, and the agreements under the policy were made without the Auditor General’s counsel with the aim of providing illicit enrichment to specific parties.

Authorities also allege the policy and the settlement agreements indicated corrupt conduct, abuse of authority, and advancing illicit enrichment during the former government. Besides this, the parliament previously decided to launch probes on former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Former Minister of Economic Development Fayyaz Ismail, and former President’s Office Minister Ali Shiyam over allegations of conduct unfavourable to the state.