Hearing in ex-Pres. Yameen's Fuhgiri corruption trial scheduled for Sunday

A hearing in the corruption case against former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul over the lease of R. Fuhgiri for resort development is scheduled for Sunday.

While the last hearing held on August 1 ended after giving both the prosecution and defence given 10 days to make final submissions with the next hearing scheduled for August 22, the Court said the hearing will start at 9am.

The former president, who is already serving a jail sentence after a money laundering conviction, has been charged with bribery and money laundering in relation to the lease of Fuhgiri island in the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) corruption scandal. He denies the charges.

At the last hearing, the defence claimed that the charges were not based on a criminal action as well as that they have have yet to receive the case documents from the state who argued that the documents requested by the defense had already been discussed at the court during the hearing conducted on 7th January with a decision reached and therefore is no longer valid. The state then affirmed that the defense was attempting to prevent the prosecution from moving forward.

Presiding Judge Ahmed Shakeel stated that while there are certain rules to attain evidence, the defense had not followed these rules and therefore, cannot complain. He said that if they wish to obtain proof, they must present a form to the court and the judge will decide what to do from thereon.

After both the state and defense had presented the evidence they had gathered and there was no more proof to be presented, the hearing concluded after giving the defense a time period of three days to submit the required form to ask for the documents they wished to attain from the state. The judge also gave 10 days to both the prosecution and defence, to make final submissions.

The charges detail that Yameen accepted USD 1,117,000 in bribes for leasing Fuhgiri island, and that he had employed Ahamed Krik Riza to help funnel the money through Sun Construction and Engineering Pvt. Ltd. and Sun Investments Pvt. Ltd.

The state seeks to obtain the USD 1,117,000 from Yameen, through court.

In addition to Yameen and Riza, the two companies owned by the former president’s close associate and Meedhoo constituency MP Ahmed Siyam, have been is accused of laundering the USD 1.1 million he received a bribe. They also deny the charges.

Former President Yameen was sentenced to five years in prison on 28 November 2019, after he was found to be guilty of laundering USD one million through MMPRC via SoF, the company used to funnel the funds, during his tenure. Furthermore, he was also to settle a fine of USD five million within six months.

However, he remains in house arrest since late-April.