The Prosecutor General's Office (PG) on Thursday submitted a case to the Criminal Court calling for the state to take possession of the USD 1 million laundered by former president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom, along with any additional illicit funds.
The former president was charged with money laundering over a transaction that involved a deposit of USD 1 million by SOF Pvt Ltd, to Yameen's personal account at Maldives Islamic Bank (MIB).
The private company is implicated in the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) corruption scandal, the grandest corruption scandal recorded in the country, which saw MVR 3.3 billion siphoned off from the tourism promotion company.
Although Yameen initially agreed to transfer the USD 1 million to a joint escrow account at Bank of Maldives (BML) with the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), it later surfaced that the money Yameen transferred to the account was not the USD 1 million he received from SOF. The funds from SOF were instead deposited in a general investment account at MIB.
The Criminal Court sentenced the former president to five years of imprisonment and imposed a fine of USD 5 million over the money laundering charges.
The High Court on December 18, accepted the appeal against the former president's 5-year sentence.
Yameen is currently serving his sentence in Maafushi Prison.
Sign In