Major fraud has been uncovered at the Transport Ministry during an investigation into the theft of the Maldives Airports Company Ltd (MACL) managing director’s vehicle.
At a police press conference on Thursday, Chief Superintendent Mohamed Dawood said that the investigation has found that vehicles have been registered through the Transport Ministry for dates in future years.
A serious investigation is underway into the case and the Transport Ministry has been providing full cooperation, he said.
“Vehicles were registered through the Transport Ministry before 2023 and registries were issued under the names of 2025, 2026, 2027, years that are yet to come,” Dawood said.
Ahmed Nizam, 43, and MACL staff Mohamed Haisham, 42, both of whom are from Male’, were arrested in connection with the vehicle theft.
The MACL managing director's vehicle was believed to have been stolen from the airport's staff parking zone by Haisham, after which it was taken to Hulhumale' and its number plate was changed, Dawood said.
It was then taken to Nizam's garage at the ground floor of the Henveiru Eeramge house. The missing van and a four-wheeled vehicle lost from immigration were fund when police officers searched the garage in Nizam's presence, Dawood said.
There were 100 vehicles registered at Nizam’s garage. Of the 86 four-wheeled vehicles, 42 vehicles were registered under Nizam’s wife’s name with the rest registered under his name.
“This business was done on a wide scale after trying to conceal the origins of vehicles that were taken, with the engine number and chassis number scraped off,” police said.
Nizam’s case has been sent to the Prosecutor General’s office but due to the “scale, depth and unknown parameters” of the case, an investigation was ongoing to identify and take action against Transport Ministry officials suspected of issuing fraudulent registries for the stolen vehicles, police said.
The Transport Ministry said previously that the number of vehicles registered daily in Male’ has been reduced from 200 to 20.
Then-Environment Minister Aminath Shauna said during former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s government that there were 10,000 vehicles for every square kilometre of Male’. The previous government also attempted to control the import of vehicles.
