Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has started looking into corruption allegations against the National Social Protection Agency (NSPA) after the agency was accused of renting an office building through the Maldives Media House which operates MMTV connected to President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu.
ACC media officer Aishath Sama told Adhadhu that a complaint had been registered against NSPA.
"The case has now been registered. An investigation has been launched. Details will be announced as soon as they are available," she said.
In a statement on Friday, NSPA insisted that the office building was rented "in accordance with the existing procedure."
"The transaction for the acquisition of a building to house this agency is a transaction between the Ministry of Finance and this agency within the rules and regulations. It was not between this agency and any other party. And that information is publicly available on Finance Ministry platforms," the statement read.
NSPA also said it was recruiting staff to run the agency and assigning their responsibilities within the rules.
The agency has been accused of agreeing to spend more than MVR 500,000 per month from the state budget to run MMTV.
According to the Finance Ministry website, NSPA sought a 12,000-square-feet site to relocate its office building and only Maldives Media House submitted a proposal.
Adhadhu understands that MMTV rented four floors from the 15-storey building located in Mahchangolhi Seeraazeege. The total area of the building is 4365 square feet.
Reliable sources said two of those floors or 8730 square feet were rented to NSPA. The 12,000 square feet of space required by NSPA will be available from three floors.
The monthly rent for the NSPA office building is MVR 580,000. That is MVR 34.8 million for five years.
Despite NSPA's claim that the transaction does not involve another party, the announcement through the tender board was made at NSPA's request.
