Spokesperson responds to reports that Yameen received USD 1.5 million, days ahead of presidential poll
Referring to a ‘confidential’ letter, Al Jazeera said that Yameen received the money ‘in two installments'
President Abdulla Yameen
Al Jazeera on Tuesday reported that President Abdulla Yameen ‘received USD1.5m in hard currency’ days ahead of the presidential election.
Referring to a ‘confidential’ letter sent to then Acting Police Commissioner Abdulla Nawaz from the central bank’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), Al Jazeera said that Yameen received the money ‘in two installments to a private bank account at the Maldives Islamic Bank’.
“In the letter, the FIU said a third party deposited $648,508 in hard currency into the president's account on September 5. Another $810,635 was deposited to the same account on September 10”, said Al Jazeera. The letter noted that ‘the whole amount was later withdrawn in hard currency’.
In a twitter post sent out in Dhivehi after Al Jazeera’s report, the President’s spokesperson Ibrahim Muaz Ali assured that the president had created a separate account for campaign related expenses, adding that money was deposited into it ‘according to law’.
“I assure the people that nothing illegal was done in the process”, he added.
Outgoing President Yameen had faced allegations of corruption and rights abuses throughout his five-year term. He had previously admitted to receiving USD one million from the company implicated in the biggest corruption scheme in the country’s history. However, the investigation was shelved due to failure to reach the person that deposited the money.
He has rejected all corruption allegations, blaming his former deputy Ahmed Adeeb for the theft, and the central bank and commercial banks for ‘negligence’.
