Siruhan: No wrongdoings as a shareholder of company which smuggled cigarettes

Ruling PNC’s Hithaadhoo MP Mohamed Siruhan has denied any unlawful transactions have taken place during his time as a shareholder of ‘Exotic Enterprises’.

A report by Parliament’s National Security Services (241 Committee) indicates that shares of Exotic Enterprises were transferred to Siruhan, coinciding with the time cigarette cartons were smuggled into the Maldives.

In a statement in response to the report, Siruhan said Exotic Enterprises already had a bonded warehouse registered with Maldives Customs Service when he joined the company.

However, he said he gave up shares in all companies where he had a stake, including Exotic Enterprises, shortly after he joined the company in order to dedicate his time to politics.

The lawmaker assured the public that the company had not been engaged in any unlawful transactions when he was a shareholder.

He added that the share transfer had taken place after an audit of the company, adding that the details of all goods kept at the company’s storage facilities, including the bonded warehouse, are clearly available.

“The audit confirms that no illegal exports occurred from the company’s bonded warehouses. As such, claims that shares of Exotic Enterprises were transferred to me in connection with the illegal export of cigarettes are categorically false,” he said.

Siruhan said any unlawful acts by the company after he had given up his shares in the company are not related to him in any way. He slammed efforts to link him to such an act as an attempt to weaken his political stature.

Siruhan emphasized that the Committee’s investigation clearly shows no link between him and cigarette smuggling. He called on the Committee to amend the report, which invokes suspicion against a lawmaker elected by the public without any proper grounds.

The Committee’s report indicates that Siruhan held shares in Exotic Enterprises at the time the company allegedly imported Camel brand cigarettes in violation of exclusive import rights held by another party.

According to the report, Exotic Enterprises registered its bonded warehouse with Maldives Customs on December 3, 2023. At the time, the company’s board of directors included Lubna Hussain Manik and Abdullah Hassan. However, by December 9, 2023, the board had changed to Lubna and Mohamed Siruhaan, who was not yet a sitting MP. He was elected to Parliament in April 2024.

When the company later exported the cigarettes, the board had changed again, listing Abdul Ahadh Adnan and Mohamed Shareef as directors.

According to official records, Exotic Enterprises imported Camel brand cigarettes on December 9, 2023. A court order was issued on December 25, 2023, suspending clearance of the shipment from the company’s bonded warehouse.

Despite the suspension, cigarettes were later removed from the warehouse on April 15 and May 8, 2024. Customs was alerted to the incident on October 30, 2024, by Parliament’s Security Services Committee.

Upon inspection, Customs found that the bonded warehouse was no longer in operation and that another office had taken its place. A total of 575 cases of cigarettes had been exported, and MVR 47 million was ordered to be paid in duty. The case was referred to the Attorney General’s Office in February 2025.