The Edition
facebook icon twitter icon instagram icon linkedin icon

Latest

Ex-pres Yameen hospitalised at IGMH

Fathmath Shaahunaz
20 February 2019, MVT 18:19
Former President Abdulla Yameen brought to Male' City for medical treatment on February 20, 2019. PHOTO: NISHAN ALI/MIHAARU
Fathmath Shaahunaz
20 February 2019, MVT 18:19

Arrested former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom was hospitalised late Wednesday.

Yameen, who faces money laundering charges and is detained until the end of his trial, was taken to Maafushi Prison on Tuesday.

He was brought to capital Male' for medical treatment on Wednesday evening, 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 embezzlement of MVR 1.3 billion from Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC). According to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC)'s recently publicised report on the graft scandal, most of the stolen funds were siphoned to a private company, SOF, which had made a deposit of USD 1 million to Yameen's personal account at Maldives Islamic Bank (MIB).

Yameen had initially objected to the ACC's order to hand over the questionable USD 1 million, claiming that the deposits he received were donations for his electoral campaign for the September 2018 Presidential Election.

He later signed an agreement to transfer the USD 1 million in his MIB account to an escrow account with ACC at the Bank of Maldives (BML). ACC was informed in writing, on Yameen's behalf, that he had followed through with the agreement.

However, it later surfaced that the money transferred to the escrow account came from an account in BML itself, while Yameen had transferred the USD 1 million in his MIB account to an investment account.

Following a police investigation, the Prosecutor General's Office levied criminal charges against the former president for laundering the money in question.

The Criminal Court ordered to remand Yameen until the end of his trial, and he is detained in Maafush Prison's Special Protection Unit.

The cells in the Special Protection Unit feature an air-conditioned room, corridor and backyard, with amenities including a bed with a soft mattress, wardrobe, refrigerator, automatic washing machine, and hot water in the bathroom.

Inmates in the Special Protection Unit are also served specially-made meals, and are allocated a region for exercise. Furthermore, MCS closely observe the healthcare and medical needs of the inmates.

Share this story

Related Stories

Discuss

MORE ON NEWS