A special audit of the Fenaka Corporation released on Thursday night revealed that projects worth MVR 19 million were awarded to a company connected to a key donor of President Mohamed Muizzu's 2023 presidential election campaign.
The contract was awarded to a company owned by Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO) board member Salah Shareef in violation of bidding rules.
The audit found that from 2021 to 2023, Fenaka awarded projects worth MVR 2.2 billion under 674 different contracts. But 439 contracts valued at MVR 1.4 billion were signed without an open bidding process.
The names of the companies and the agreement values were included in the annex to the report.
The company in which Salah holds a stake is Kengo Private Limited. Contrary to the usual bidding rules, Fenaka signed eight agreements with Kengo. The total value of these agreements is MVR 19,456,100.
Besides Salah , Kengo shareholders include a man named Ahmed Hashim and Aminath Saniyya Shareef, who was among the three general managers who were sacked from MIFCO in February and reinstated the following month.
Salah is among the private individuals who funded Muizzu's presidential campaign. According to Muizzu's financial records disclosed by the Elections Commission (EC), Salah spent MVR 2.8 million on the People's National Congress (PNC) campaign.
On September 1, 2023, Salah spent on campaign travel, accommodation and meals, as well as campaign materials for Muizzu. Salah was appointed to the board of MIFCO on December 12, 2023.
When Adhadhu questioned Salah, he denied the information in the audit report and insisted that his company had not signed any agreement with Fenaka outside the public tender process.
"That's completely false. It would be better to get that information from Fenaka," Salah said.
When questioned whether the money from Fenaka was donated to Muizzu's campaign, Salah said he does not have to clarify those details to Adhadhu.
"You don't have to ask that. I'm a businessman and I have money. I don't have to answer that. I've been a businessman since 2013," he stated.
