Auditor General Hassan Ziyath has expressed concerns over the MVR4.7 million spent by the by three Maldivian embassies operating overseas in violation of the financial regulations.
According to the 2015 audit report of the Foreign Ministry, the questionable expenses were reported in the Maldivian mission in Geneva, as well as the Maldivian embassies in Saudi Arabia and UK.
The permanent Maldivian mission in Geneva had the largest number of inexplicable spending, with over MVR3.7 million spent illegally. According to the report, an expense voucher must be compiled before any expense is incurred from government funds, however 221,878 Swiss Francs (3.4 million rufiyaa) was withdrawn from the mission account without a voucher. The report concluded that due to lack of the vouchers, the purpose of the withdrawal could not be accurately specified.
The report also revealed that the 6,970 Swiss Francs spent by the mission between 2012 and 2014 had no financial records.
Another issue noted by the report was the keeping of items purchased for the Ambassadors use by the government budget in storage units after the Ambassador resigned. A total of MVR197,099 was spent on the storage units according to the audit office investigations.
The Auditor General noted that such a large amount was spent on the storage units as no decision could be reached on what to do to the with items in the unit. The Auditor General advised all entities to be more efficient in relation to government funds in the future.
According to the Maldivian financial regulation, a project can only be contracted to a third party with a written agreement. However, according to audit office findings, such projects were contracted out without the necessary documents by the Maldivian embassy in Saudi Arabia. The report reveals that MVR185,997 was spent illegally by the embassy. The Maldivian embassy in UK had also racked up over MVR738,246 between 2013 and 2014 without any of the necessary documents as well.
The report concluded by stating that though there were some minor issues in the expenses of the Foreign Ministry, there were no overall problems or corruption.
