Maldives Police Service summoned former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom on Tuesday to sign the statements he gave regarding accusations of corruption and money laundering against him.
While the former president was summoned for interrogation twice before, Police spokesperson only stated that Yameen was summoned Tuesday for investigation. She did not provide further details.
Local media Mihaaru reported that according to their sources, Yameen was summoned to sign the statement given by him to the Police.
The former President was summoned twice for questioning over laundering money deposited to his bank accounts. This money was initially embezzled in the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) corruption scandal.
The police have asserted that questionable deposits of large sums of money were made into Yameen's accounts. Over MVR 100 million in his accounts have been frozen in relation to this investigation.
Furthermore, Yameen has been accused of providing false information to the government institutions which were investigating this issue.
Speaking to the media after his questioning on Sunday, Yameen stated that he was asked regarding the handover of USD 1 million, initially deposited to his MIB account by SOF Pvt Ltd, to the Anti-Corruption Commission.
Although Yameen agreed to transfer the USD 1 million to an escrow account jointly managed by ACC and himself, it has since been revealed that the letter sent by the former Legal Affairs Minister of the President’s Office, Azima Shakoor, to the ACC confirming that the transfer had been completed, was false. The funds transferred to the escrow account was deposited into another of Yameen's bank accounts by the previous Minister of Tourism Moosa Zameer.
In addition to this, Yameen is also under investigation for a total of MVR 22.2 million deposited into his bank account shortly before the 2018 presidential elections.
The Financial Investigation Unit (FIU) of MMA reported the matter to the police outlining the issue of two deposits, one amounting to MVR 10 million on September 5, and a further deposit of MVR 12.5 million on September 10, made to an account registered at MIB under Yameen’s name.
Sign In
