A Dubai court has ruled in favor of the Maldivian government, ordering the shareholders of Executors General Trading to pay USD 2.4 million for failing to deliver ventilators that were contracted during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The verdict, delivered on October 7, 2025, comes after the company failed to comply with an earlier arbitration ruling issued by the Maldives International Arbitration Centre, which had already directed the firm to refund the payment along with compensation for breach of contract.
Under the original agreement signed on April 2, 2020, the Maldives Ministry of Health contracted Executors General Trading — a Dubai-based company — to supply 75 ventilators urgently needed for pandemic response efforts. However, only 15 units were delivered, which authorities later deemed substandard and rejected. The remaining ventilators were never supplied.
Following the breach, the Health Ministry demanded a refund of USD 2 million for the undelivered units, but the company failed to return the funds. The government then escalated the case through arbitration and, eventually, to the Dubai courts.
In its latest decision, the Dubai court ordered Executors General Trading to settle the USD 2.4 million within seven days or face further legal consequences, including enforcement actions.
Speaking to state media PSM, Attorney General Ahmed Usham confirmed that the state is seeking to recover USD 2.07 million, in addition to interest and arbitration costs.
“If the payment is not made within seven days as per the court order, we will take the necessary steps to enforce the arbitration award,” Usham said, emphasizing that the government remains determined to reclaim the funds lost in the deal.
The Attorney General has repeatedly stated that the ventilator procurement deal resulted in significant financial losses for the state and assured that all possible measures would be pursued to recover the money.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) previously revealed that the former administration awarded the ventilator contract without a bank guarantee and transferred USD 2.24 million to the company without verifying its credentials or delivery capacity.
The ventilator case, which became one of the most controversial episodes of the Maldives’ pandemic response, has long been under investigation for irregularities and alleged negligence in procurement procedures.
