The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has requested the Prosecutor General’s Office to prosecute three former senior officials of Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) for allegedly gaining illicit profits from reagents used in the hospital’s laboratory during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ACC has sought charges against former IGMH CEO Ibrahim Saleem, former laboratory head Dr Milza Abdul Muhsin, and Dr Ali Abdulla Latheef, the then Chairman of the Procurement Committee. The commission has called for the trio to be prosecuted for abuse of official position.
Dr Latheef, who also served as a member of IGMH’s Medical Executive Committee and Technical Advisory Committee, was the head of the Technical Advisory Group formed to manage the COVID-19 pandemic. The ACC’s investigation revealed that the three officials profited illegally through a company called RMLS Lab Services, which is known to have ties to Dr Latheef.
In addition to the prosecution request, the ACC has asked the police to investigate alleged money laundering activities and the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) to look into potential tax evasion by Dr Latheef through RMLS Lab Services.
RMLS Lab Services operates under Pioneer Maldives Pvt Ltd, a company incorporated in October 2020, shortly after COVID-19 was first detected in the Maldives in March 2020. The company’s shareholders, according to government records, are Ikuleel Shareef and Ibrahim Saeed Mohamed, who are alleged to be proxies for Dr Latheef.
RMLS Lab Services was the first to offer PCR tests in the Maldives and allegedly earned millions of dollars during the pandemic from PCR testing, as well as the sale of reagents and other medical consumables.
In April 2022, Pioneer Maldives acquired a 7.4-hectare island in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll for US$2.8 million for resort development, with an additional US$150,000 paid to the Tourism Training Fund.