PG Office denies any role in Yameen's statement leak
Yameen is charged with bribery and money laundering in the leasing of Fuhgiri island for resort development
Prosecutor General Hussain Shameem
While a statement by former President Abdulla Yameen in the R. Fuhgiri corruption charges has been leaked to the media, the Prosecutor General’s (PG) has denied any involvement in the matter.
Noting that there are attempts to pin this on PG Hussain Shameem, Public Prosecutor Ahmed Shafiu told RaajjeMV that there is no reason that he should be blamed for this as the prosecutor general is not the only person that will have a copy of the statement.
As such, Shafiu emphasized the police as well as the former president’s defence team will also have copies.
Further stressing that this was not a confidential document, the public prosecutor assured that the PG Office did not have a hand in it being leaked to the media.
A member of the Yameen’s legal team has been adding fuel to the fire via Twitter; Adam Shameem accused the PG Shameem of being “an agent” of the government who he claimed is working “to frame” the former president.
The leaked document in question is a statement given by Yameen on August 1. The former president, currently under house arrest after being sentenced to five years in prison for money laundering, is charged with bribery and money laundering in the leasing of Fuhgiri island for resort development in the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) corruption scandal.
The charges detail that Yameen accepted USD 1,117,000 in bribes for leasing Fuhgiri, and that he had employed Krik Riza to help funnel the money through Sun Construction & Engineering Pvt. Ltd. and Sun Investments Pvt. Ltd.
While Yameen has plead not guilty to the charges, a hearing in the trial was held this Sunday where the state had presented 86 materials of evidence including letters, cheques as well as slips confirming cash deposit. The same evidences were presented for both charges against the ex-president. Similarly, the defendant also presented the same materials as evidence for both charges, including previous statements and cash receipts.
Yameen was sentenced to five years in prison on 28 November 2019, after being found guilty of laundering USD one million through state-owned MMPRC via a private company, Scores of Flair, during his presidential tenure. He was also given a fine totaling USD five million, along with the jail sentence, to be settled within six months.
While the former president also faces fresh charges over the leasing of Aarah island in Vaavu atoll, he was questioned by the presidenial inquiry commission on disappearances and deaths on Tuesday regarding the 2014 murder of journalist Ahmed Rilwan.
