MVR 17 million in cash was taken out of Hilaaleege on Yameen's instruction: Witness

A witness has said in court today that MVR 17 million in cash was taken out of former President Abdulla Yameen's then residence, Hilaaleege, on his instructions.

A hearing was held at Criminal Court today where Yameen is accused of accepting a bribe of USD 1 million in the lease of R. Fuggiri and laundering those funds. Today, statements were taken from defence witnesses.

As such, then Muleeaage External Affairs Head Abdulla Rasheed provided his witness statement. He said that Yameen had ordered him to come to Hilaaleege, Yameen's official residence at the time, saying there was money that has to be paid to Sun company's owner and Meedhoo constituency MP Ahmed Siyam from Mohamed.

Abdulla Rasheed also conducts personal tasks for Yameen. Even at present, he takes care of Yameen's residence and cars.

Abdulla said that when he had gone to Hilaaleege that night, MVR 17 million in cash was kept on a table in the sitting room. He said that he became aware of the amount because Yameen told him. He further cited Yameen as telling him that these funds were being given to Siyam to exchange dollars.

According to Abdulla, the cash was in bundles of MVR 50,000, totalling 344 bundles.

He further said that he had placed the money in a large suitcase. There was some space left in the suitcase after all the money was placed in it, he said. He said that Siyam's driver had come in his car near Hilaaleege to receive the suitcase.

Although Abdulla was not able to state the exact date of events, he said that it was in mid 2016.

In addition to Abdulla, 'Krik' Riza also provided a statement today. Riza was accused of bribing Yameen. When Riza delivered his statement, it was not clearly audible, so details of his statement are unclear.

He did state that he had not made any financial transactions with Yameen. He said that to take Fuggiri on lease he had provided consultation for a foreign firm, and had appealed for assistance regarding concerns of the island's acquisition cost. A meeting had also been held at the time with then MMPRC MP Abdulla Ziyath. Riza further said that former Vice President Ahmed Adeeb had been present in one of these meetings.

All defence witness statements have been taken today. The next hearing will include comments on the statements and summary statements. After this, the verdict in the case will be announced.

Some of the key witnesses proposed by Yameen, Male's former Deputy Mayor and current advisor to the Youth Minister Ahmed Nareesh and FSM Deputy Managing Director Shuaullah Saeed later refused to provide statements.