President’s Sister’s MVR 20 Million Assets Declared by Accident: President’s Office

The President’s Office has claimed that the Asset Declaration form for Fathimath Mohamed Solih, President Solih’s younger sister, had listed assets that exceed MVR 20 million “by mistake”.

Fathimath Mohamed Solih is a Secretary at the Presidential Secretariat and Protocol section at the President’s Office. Until late last week, her Asset Declaration form had listed a MVR 20 million building and MVR 700,000 in savings in a bank account as her private property. The Asset Declaration form had disappeared for a full day before it was replaced by a document with the building and the bank account omitted.

In a statement released by the President’s Office, they said that due to a data-entry error, the Asset Declaration document had accidentally included her late husband’s wealth; which included MVR 700,000 saved in a bank account, and a MVR 20 million building.

Therefore, her Asset Declaration document had been amended, the statement read.

Prior to this, Dhiyares, the sister-newspaper of The Maldives Journal, had reported that Mohamed Shihab; who serves as an adviser to the President; had declared MVR 300 million as private property. The President’s Office had claimed that this, too, had been done by accident.

Although the officials of the President’s Office, and other officials of the Executive Branch, have published declarations of their assets; many view these declarations with suspicion.