News Desk
Male’, Maldives: Long after the queues for PCR tests have vanished from the streets, the names of two doctors who once stood at the center of the country’s COVID response are now circulating for a very different reason. Dr. Ali Latheef and Dr. Ikuleel Shareef, once associated with some of the busiest testing centers in the Maldives, are facing a slate of criminal charges that prosecutors say stem from the very services that made them indispensable during the pandemic.
The Maldives Inland Revenue Authority announced this week that it has referred the case to the Prosecutor General’s Office after months of audits and inquiries. The agency said the two companies linked to the doctors, Island Health Solutions and Pioneer Maldives, had significantly underreported their taxable income during the years when PCR testing became a lifeline for travel, tourism and public safety.
According to the authority, the companies were among the earliest to offer PCR testing at scale. Pioneer Maldives, in particular, became a familiar name in 2020 and 2021 as resorts scrambled to meet international travel requirements and residents sought quick results before boarding flights. The demand was relentless. At the height of the pandemic, clinics ran late into the night, and technicians worked through holidays to keep up.
Yet the revenue authority says the financial records submitted during those same years tell a different story. Investigators found that income from PCR testing and related services had not been fully included in the financial statements or income tax returns. Some expenses listed as cost of sales and administrative spending were deemed invalid, a move the agency says was intended to reduce the tax burden.
Island Health Solutions is accused of omitting MVR 31.9 million in taxable income. Pioneer Maldives is accused of leaving out MVR 102.7 million. The audits concluded that Island Health Solutions owes MVR 4.3 million in taxes and Pioneer Maldives owes an additional MVR 23.7 million.
The findings have now escalated into criminal charges. Prosecutors say Dr. Shareef, the majority shareholder of both companies, faces five counts of intentional tax evasion. Dr. Latheef, who holds a 50 percent stake in Island Health Solutions and is described as a key figure in its management, faces three counts. Pioneer Maldives itself has been charged with two counts of intentional tax evasion, while Island Health Solutions faces three counts and an additional charge of obstructing law enforcement and other government activities.
Ali Fayaz, the accountant who prepared the financial statements and tax returns for both companies, has been charged with five counts of intentional tax evasion.
The Prosecutor General’s Office said the charges reflect each individual’s role in the companies during the pandemic years. It also signaled that it intends to seek the maximum penalties allowed under Maldivian law if the defendants are convicted.
The case has stirred public interest in part because of the central role PCR testing played in the Maldives during the pandemic. The tourism industry, the backbone of the national economy, depended on reliable testing to keep resorts open and travelers moving. PCR testing became not only a public health tool but also a significant source of income for private clinics.
The revenue authority noted that the two companies had been at the forefront of providing these services during the peak of demand. That prominence, it said, makes the alleged underreporting particularly serious.
For now, the matter moves to the courts, where the doctors who once fielded calls about test results and travel clearances will face questions of a different kind. The pandemic may have receded, but its financial shadows continue to stretch across the islands.
