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The police raided opposition MP Ahmed Nazim's office Sunday, apparently in search of incriminating evidence in relation to allegations levied in the Auditor General's report on the former Atolls Ministry. Released on 8th May, the report suspects three companies (in which Nazim holds shares, though he is not mentioned by name) of using corrupt practices to win a contract worth about 2 million rufiyaa for supplying harbor lights.
The three companies under suspicion are Namira, Standard and Neyza, which the report believes belong to the same owners who used them as fronts to bypass regulations that require a minimum of three quotations for a bid to be valid. The report does not specifically say whether the three are legal companies duly registered with the Trade Ministry, though this appears to be the case when one considers indirect references to their shareholders.
Police raided Nazim's office at 1.20 am on the night of 24th May and seized a number of documents, a laptop computer and two hard drives. This was done under a search warrant issued by the Criminal Court.
The raid comes two weeks after the Audit Report and one week after President Mohamed Nasheed created a presidential commission to investigate misappropriation of state funds by members of the former government.
Nazim who was recently re-elected to the parliament from Dhiggaru constituency has been the subject of many unsavory rumors, perhaps partly because of his meteoric rise to fame and fortune. Notable among the rumors are alleged misuse of his position in STELCO to promote his personal trade in electrical goods and alleged corrupt practices relating to rural electrification projects. However, none of these allegations have ever been proved against him.
