MPL procurement head and fuel bowser driver sentenced to eight years in prison for embezzling over 700,000 liters of fuel

Two individuals have been found guilty of embezzlement in connection with the fraudulent procurement of fuel for Maldives Ports Limited (MPL) operations through Fuel Supplies Maldives (FSM).

In this case, Mohamed Aiman of Vaaruge, S. Feydhoo—who served as the Chief Manager of the Procurement Department at MPL—and a Bangladeshi national named Sojib have been found guilty of embezzlement.

Both individuals have been found guilty of embezzlement and sentenced to eight years in prison. The court also ordered them to pay MVR 6,799,800 (six million seven hundred ninety-nine thousand eight hundred) in restitution to the state. This amount represents the total value of the more than 700,000 liters of fuel misappropriated in the case.

In addition to the embezzlement charges filed in this case, Aiman has been charged with the offense of knowingly presenting a fraudulent document as authentic with the intent to deceive. Meanwhile, the Bangladeshi national involved has been charged with the offense of knowingly creating a forged document with the intent to deceive.

Both charges have been proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Consequently, both individuals have been sentenced to an additional 9 months and 18 days in prison.

Charges in this case were filed following an investigation into 119 delivery notes issued between January 13, 2020, and October 10, 2020. The investigation revealed that during fuel procurement transactions between Fuel Supplies Maldives (FSM) and Maldives Ports Limited (MPL), documentation was falsified to indicate that MPL had received fuel which was never actually delivered. According to the prosecution, these delivery notes were accepted and processed through the system to facilitate the embezzlement of a total of 783,100 liters of diesel that never reached MPL.