The Public Service Media (PSM) has paid out more than MVR 1 million for work contracted by the company without any documentation when President's Office Communications Minister Ibrahim Khaleel was its managing director.
A decision was made during former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's government to not release the funds before a lawsuit over the payments could be concluded through all the stages of appeal. However, the company's current board decided to make the payment. PSM's finance head Ahmed Haneef was sacked from the company after he opposed orders to release the funds.
PSM made the payments during May and June. PSM paid out a total of MVR 1,153,992, including MVR 1,113,992 paid to JMJ Investment and MVR 40,000 paid to Abdulla Azmeen.
Transfer slips for payments made by PSM.
Of the MVR 1.1 million paid to JMJ Investment, MVR 400,000 was transferred to the account of the company's owner Yasir Yusuf. The remaining MVR 600,000 was sent to the company's account. The money had been owed for work such as repairs and paint jobs.
The payment made to former football commentator Azmeen was owed for a magazine prepared for the 2018 World Cup. PSM had also failed to pay the printer of the magazine. It is unclear whether that payment has been made in compliance with a court order.
All of the work had been done by PSM in violation of the company's procurement rules. There is no documentation at PSM to show the contracting or completion of the work. However, shortly before the payment was made to Azmeen, PSM's marketing department sent a document about the magazine work to the finance department. Azmeen is a relative of Zeena Zahir, PSM's current managing director.
Several lawsuits against PSM are ongoing at court, most of which involve non-payment for work contracted during Khaleel's tenure as managing director.
