The Kuwait Fund has always provided assistance for civil society groups and development projects in the Maldives. One such project was a two-storey building that Health Minister Dr. Abdulla Khaleel's association, Abdulla Khaleel Foundation, started at the Atoll Education Center in his native Faafu Nilandhoo about six years ago. The building was to include four classrooms, a computer lab, training room and a laboratory.
"This is the largest project of its kind undertaken in the history of Nilandhoo by an association," a post on AK Foundation's Facebook page on January 29, 2019 stated.
The total cost of the project in the proposal made to the Kuwait Fund was USD 300,000. The proposed amount required from the Kuwait Fund for the project was USD 200,000. The Kuwaitis did arrange the funds. The media reported the disbursement of the funding on August 3, 2017, based on a statement released by the Kuwait embassy in Colombo, Sri Lanka. However, the building remains unfinished to date.
To dive deep into the case, Adhadhu examined the project proposal, AK Foundation's bank statements, the progress report, some letters from the Kuwait embassy, some letters issued by government agencies about the project, some financial transactions related to the project and media reports.
Breakdown of expenses in AK Foundation's proposal to Kuwait Fund.
According to the proposal, infrastructure work on the two-storey building would cost a total of USD 130,000. The proposal estimated a further USD 70,000 for electrical appliances, furniture and other facilities. The USD 100,000 required for other work was to be secured as donations from well wishers.
The bank statement shows that the Kuwait Fund completed the transfer of the full grant aid to the AK Foundation by June 25, 2018. The money was transferred based on the completion of work.
However, the bank statement shows that a large sum of dollars obtained from the Kuwait Fund was transferred to Khaleel's personal account.
Dates and amount of dollars deposited to Khaleel's personal account:
- USD 12,500 - October 29, 2017
- USD 12,500 - October 29, 2017
- USD 12,000 - December 3, 2017
- USD 2,000 - December 12, 2017
- USD 10,000 - December 21, 2017
- USD 12,000 - January 3, 2018
- USD 12,000 - January 3, 2018
- USD 7,680 - April 29, 2018
- USD 7,800 - April 29, 2018
- USD 600 - May 3, 2018
A total of USD 89,080 from the Kuwait aid was transferred to Khaleel's personal account, which amounts to MVR 1.3 million in Dhivehi Rufiyaa. On two occasions, a total of USD 8,080 was transferred from Khaleel's account to AK Foundation's account.
AK Foundation also transferred USD 20,000 on two occasions to former Inguraidhoo MP Ibrahim Falah's account and USD 2,100 to Khaleel's brother Shamsullah Fazeel's account.
Bank statements from the period show that the association only paid one Maldivian company. A total of USD 9,050 was deposited to the company on two occasions.
AIM Construction's shareholders were Khaleel's three siblings. They were Shamsullah, Fathuhullah Ageel and Nasrullah Jaleel.
Abdulla Khaleel told Adhadhu that AIM was contracted for the construction of the building. The money deposited to the company was payment for the work, he said.
Building started by AK Foundation in Nilandhoo.
USD 87,000 to a Maldivian company and five foreign companies
Thousands of dollars were paid to various companies under the work started by AK Foundation to develop a two-storey building at the Nilandhoo school. The first payment was made to China's 'Xiamen Alot Stone.' This appears to have been the cost of designing the building under the first phase of the project. However, according to its website, the company is a tile seller. The company was paid USD 1,838 from the USD 2,000 provided by Kuwait under the first phase.
The largest payments were made to a steel seller from China. A total of USD 57,900 was paid to 'Hebei Shaohen Steel Structure.' The money was transferred on January 7, 2018, and January 29, 2018.
According to AK Foundation's Facebook page, the material was brought to Male' and taken to Nilandhoo on March 19, 2018.
The bank statement then shows payments made to a company that sells sports equipment and specialized items for children's parks. A payment of USD 44,447 was made to China's 'Guangzhou Jinmiqi Sports Equipment' on January 18, 2018. The remaining USD 11,666 was sent to the Chinese company on February 6, 2018.
The Nilandhoo building project made no mention of sports equipment or developing a park. Kuwait did not provide funds for such work.
However, according to AK Foundation's Facebook page, Kuwait provided funds for the development of a children's park. Material for the park was taken to Nilandhoo on October 27, 2018, posts on the page show.
Moreover, USD 5,000 was sent to a Chinese company called 'Excel Group Industrial Limited.' According to its website, the company is a supplier of construction materials.
Imports duties for material brought into the country for the project by AK Foundation were waived.
Some transactions from AK Foundation's dollar account.
Khaleel denies any wrongdoing
The reason for depositing funds to his personal account and to the account of his brother was conversion of dollars, Khaleel said.
"Transactions are conducted in the Maldives in Rufiyaa, not in dollars. So when we get money, we have to convert it. We buy the things we need to buy after converting to Ruifyaa. We did make transfers to foreign accounts as well. We'd buy from overseas with dollars, right," he said.
The statement obtained by Adhadhu does not show that money was deposited to the account after conversion from dollars.
A different problem also surfaced from the documents. The Kuwait Fund disbursed money based on the progress report on work completed. But the third phase was incomplete when the USD 19,420 needed for the fourth phase was requested.
Work in the third phase included construction, cement laying and installation of windows. The report sent to Kuwait stated that the final work in the fourth phase was painting and electrical wiring.
The report stated that the building was completed but only the steel structure could be seen. Khaleel said the project was halted at that point because the funding proved insufficient.
A statement obtained by Adhadhu from AK Foundation's Rufiyaa account shows that the association collected about MVR 600,000 between October 21, 2016, and April 2, 2018. The transactions included a total of MVR 140,000 deposited on various occasions from some government companies.
However, more than six years later, the only visible work on the building started by Khaleel's association as a source of pride with the aim of providing a generous space for the island's students to learn is a steel structure. The structure has also now been left to rust.
