Another charge of fraud against Dhuvaafaru Council, this time fraud over MVR 100K

The Auditor General's audit report has unveiled a fresh corruption scandal involving the Dhuvaafaru Council in Raa Atoll, alleging the forging of documents and misdirection of funds exceeding MVR 100,000. This comes after previous allegations surfaced regarding significant financial irregularities.

Earlier, a special monitoring report by the Local Government Authority (LGA) brought to light a fraud case against the Dhuvaafaru Council, alleging misappropriation of over MVR 2 million and theft from zakat funds under their administration.

This case was referred to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in July 2022, leading to an investigation that concluded with a referral to the duty prosecution. In June 2023, the ACC and the Prosecutor General's (PG) Office reached an agreement under Article 97 of the Criminal Procedure Code, opting for a resolution other than prosecuting the council members.

Last Wednesday, the Auditor General released a 2023 compliance audit report for the Dhuvaafaru Council, revealing new findings of financial misconduct. According to the report, the council, in 2023, engaged in the falsification of documents and the illicit transfer of funds into the accounts of individuals who were not the legitimate beneficiaries.

The audit report specifically identified an employee of the Dhuvaafaru Council office who allegedly forged bills by substituting the account numbers of the original recipients with those of various persons connected to the employee. The council, in turn, processed these payments without adequate verification of the authenticity of the intended payee, as detailed in the audit findings.

Consequently, MVR 99,338 was improperly deposited into accounts other than those of the rightful recipients. The audit report further noted that the council has made efforts to recover some of these funds, with MVR 35,520 successfully retrieved to date. However, a balance of MVR 63,818 remains unrecovered as of the report's preparation.

The Auditor General has issued recommendations for the restitution of the misappropriated funds to the original recipients. Furthermore, the report calls for a thorough investigation into the matter and appropriate disciplinary or legal action against those deemed responsible for these financial improprieties.

Beyond these specific instances, the audit report also highlighted broader fiscal shortcomings, noting insufficient efforts by the council to recover outstanding debts owed to it, amounting to approximately MVR 2 million.

Additional deficiencies cited include the granting of land without formal signed agreements, inadequate record-keeping of payments, and a lack of verification for agreed-upon rates. The report also pointed out that council funds received were not consistently deposited into the bank, and receipts were often prepared incompletely.