The Attorney General's Office (AGO) has called to investigate and take legal action on the case in which the previous administration compensated Dheebaja Investments Private Limited. The AGO gave this order following a special audit pertaining to a settlement agreement made between the previous administration and Dheebaja Investments.
The government of Former President Mohamed Nasheed contracted Dheebaja to establish a ferry service in the northern atolls in 2010 and the agreement was terminated during President Dr. Mohamed Waheed’s administration in 2013. Dheebaja filed a lawsuit and won the case against the state, with the Civil Court ordering a compensation amount of USD 23 million.
In order to make the compensation, the government of Former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih entered a settlement agreement with Dheebaja, such that the government compensates USD 4.2 million before its tenure ended. Of this amount, USD 842,000 was issued to Dheebaja, following the instructions of the President's Office, in August 2023.
The audit report on the case noted that the previous administration agreed to compensate USD 4.2 million without considering the financial statistics. Of this sum, USD 772,000 was designated to compensate for the costs incurred to build ferries. The report indicated that the previous government's Settlement Committee failed to investigate the number of ferries to be built, which started the practical works and how much costs Dheebaja incurred.
Additionally, while USD 175,097 was allocated as a compensation for imported products, the committee did not investigate whether the company gained financially or not from these products, or any additional information regarding the goods. Furthermore, while a compensation of USD 3.2 million was allocated for the loss incurred during the period it provided services, the audit report states that the previous administration determined the compensation amount based on the estimated loss.
The audit report indicates that Dheebaja will face a maximum loss of USD3.1 million, if the settlement agreement is abolished. However, aiming to compensate for this loss, the government handed over an island from Raa Atoll, to teh company, which to be operated as a resort. The audit report underlines that this island has now been sold for USD4.2 million, under a sub-lease agreement, hence financially benefitting the company.
Therefore, the audit report indicates that the settlement agreement between the previous administration and Dheebaja Investment, assisted in the company gaining financially, posing a significant loss to the government. Hence, it has directed to carry out a thorough investigation on the case, and take necessary action against those who posed the government in incurring a loss.