The High Court, on Thursday, accepted the former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom’s appeal of the Criminal Court’s order to detain him until the end of his trial regarding the alleged laundering of state funds from the graft scandal of Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC).
Yameen's attorney Abdulla Siyaz confirmed that the appeal, which was submitted on Tuesday, was accepted by the court.
Criminal Court's Chief Judge Ahmed Hailam, on Monday, ordered the detention of Yameen after the prosecutor accused him of attempting to influence witnesses with bribery.
He was brought to capital Male' for medical treatment on Wednesday evening, two days after his detention and is currently admitted at Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH).
According to an official of IGMH, Yameen is hospitalised for 24 hours as per doctors' advice. The hospital did not provide further details as the former president is under the custody of Maldives Correctional Services (MCS).
However, local media reports that Yameen consulted cardiologists.
The former president is implicated in the largest embezzlement case in the history of Maldives, which involved the embezzlement of a staggering MVR 1.3 billion in state funds, acquired via island leases for tourism, through the company SOF Pvt Ltd, which had made a deposit of USD 1 million to Yameen's personal account at Maldives Islamic Bank (MIB).
Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) requested Yameen to hand over the USD 1 million prior to the September 2018 Presidential Elections, as the funds were suspicious. Although Yameen initially objected, he signed an agreement with ACC on March 25, 2018, to transfer the money to an escrow account in Bank of Maldives Ltd (BML).
Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA)'s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) brought to ACC's attention that the funds deposited in the escrow account were not from MIB. ACC filed a police case requesting an investigation in January 2019, and Yameen has since been charged with laundering state funds.
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