Documents related to sale of Dhiraagu shares missing: Audit Office

The Audit Office has said that it had not received the documents related to the costs of the sale of shares of Dhiraagu to Cable and Wireless, a transaction that took place during the government of former President Mohamed Nasheed.

Auditor General Niyaz Ibrahim said in the Audit Report of Finance Ministry for 2011 published on Thursday, that the government paid MVR 399,750 to HSBC for advice on the sale of Dhiraagu shares, and MVR 4.62 million to Baker and McKenzie for advice on changing to a public company.

The report noted that even though these sums were paid to these companies, there are no documents to indicate the service or advice provided to the government in return.

The Auditor General has advised to keep proper, written record of financial transactions whenever the State budget is utilised, and to take action against those who granted permission to release the money in relation to the sale of shares of Dhiraagu without proper documentation.

The government sold 7 percent of Dhiraagu shares to UK’s Cable and Wireless, and last year, Cable and Wireless sold 52 percent of its shares to Bahrain Telecommunications Company. 41 percent of shares of Dhiraagu is held by the government, 5.9 percent by the public, and 0.30 percent shares are colleagues shares.