The Greater Male’ Industrial Zone Ltd claims that various funds from the company were taken by the Office of the First Lady of the previous administration Fathimath Ibrahim. The company claims that the funds were illegally taken to both the First Lady’s Office as well as campaign offices during the elections period of former President Abdulla Yameen.

The Greater Male’ Industrial Zone Ltd. was a company that resulted from a merger between two state owned companies, Thilafushi Corporation Ltd and Gulhifalhu Industrial Ltd. The Greater Male’ Industrial Zone Ltd. was formed during the previous administration of President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom.

The Managing Director of the company Ibrahim Rasheed Aboobakuru spoke on Rajje TV’s “Fala surukhee” program and said that there were astounding levels of corruption within the company.

The MD said that various funds were stolen from the company under the guise of various agreements, under several different names during the previous administration.

He said that the company has a high profit margin and hence escaped the situation of going bankrupt. The MD said however that the company was not run under a long term plan.

Ibrahim Rasheed also said that there were major inappropriate level of funds dedicated to marketing the company. He noted that several 100,000 MVR were assigned to marketing efforts on a monthly basis.

The MD reiterated that there was approximately a 140 per cent increase in new employees hired by the company around the time of the recent Presidential elections. He also said that a major chunk of funds were taken out of the company various due to the new employees and the amounts did not match the expected expenditure for such an endeavor.

He said that the current number of employees at the company are higher than capacity. The MD also reported that the company is currently is working towards increasing the workload instead of letting the employees go.