Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has stated that government agencies and state-owned enterprises (SOEs) must cease destroying official documents, citing that such actions constitute a legal offence.
In an official statement, ACC revealed that it has been receiving complaints about destroying documents in certain government agencies and SOEs during the government transition period. The commission underscored that altering state documents, its destruction, or concealing such records could impede ongoing investigations. ACC urged companies to refrain from engaging in such acts and encouraged individuals with knowledge of such occurrences to promptly report to the authorities. ACC also called upon the Maldives Police Service (MPS) and the Privatisation and Corporatisation Board (PCB) to investigate and put a stop to destroying paperwork by government agencies and SOEs, given that it is a legal offence.
The statement was issued in response to a viral video depicting the destruction of documents belonging to Fuel Supplies Maldives Private Limited (FSM) on social media. FSM clarified that the documents in the video were outdated and unnecessary paperwork that had been stored in warehouses for several years.
Both the Office of the President-elect and the PCB had previously instructed government agencies and SOEs not to destroy documents during the transition of government.