The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the government-owned Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO), Ahmed Shamaah, has been suspended to investigate corporate governance issues.
The Privatization and Corporatization Board (PCB) issued a statement today saying he was suspended for 14 days. He was suspended to conduct a full inquiry into corporate governance issues filed against him.
Shamaah recently faced 12 accusations and was ordered to stop immediately. The issues were brought to his attention by a letter from PCB signed by the board's President Hamdhy Ageel.
The letter noted alleged intimidation of employees as the most serious issue. The letter also accused him of hiring family members and using the company's resources for political purposes.
Allegations against MIFCO CEO
- Explicit use of company assets and resources for personal and political purposes
- Unfair dismissal of permanent employees, intimidation of employees, deducting salaries and demoting permanent employees in violation of the Employment Act, unreasonably transferring employees to other departments and islands
- Hiring the CEO's family members and friends in violation of the company's recruitment policies and salary structure
- Violation of best practice and governance rules, to recruit employees without public announcement and without completing procedures
- Creating and recruiting company positions without obtaining PCB permission
- Violation of rules to appoint persons without adequate education and experience as heads of departments
- Violation of delegation matrix when the CEO goes on official trips, by handing over the management of the company to irrelevant employees and involving irrelevant employees in trips
- Changing the company's bid committee and appointing relatives to the committee against best practice
- Allowing non-employees to enter and leave the company's premises and access the company's resources in violation of the company's security procedures
- Bringing the CEO's family members to the office for non-official purposes
- CEO travels abroad regardless of the company’s financial situation, uses business class when traveling and involves non-work-related employees in trips
- Threatening to dissolve the company's internal audit department and obstructing the independent conduct of internal audit
MIFCO officials were also produced before a parliamentary committee because the company gave gifts to ruling party parliamentary candidates and shared pictures of the event on social media.
