Maldives ex-pres. questioned over USD 1mln deposited by SOF, says ACC has no right to withhold the money

Former President Abdulla Yameen was questioned for a second time over money laundering allegations, on Sunday.

He presented himself to the police headquarters at 1:30pm, as per summon notice, and was released after questioning over three hours later.

Speaking to the media afterwards, Yameen- who had face multiple corruption allegations throughout his five-year tenure- said that his government had only carried out such investigations against individuals that had conducted unlawful activities; while Yameen made this claim, two former presidents and a number of senior political figures were incarcerated through ‘rushed trials’ during his presidency.

While he was questioned over the USD one million deposited to his own account by a private firm- SOF Pvt Ltd- the former president criticized the current government saying that it needs to be “more responsible.”

Yameen claimed that he had transferred USD one million to a Bank of Maldives (BML) account of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), shortly after it launched an investigation into the matter. He added that ACC’s issue now is ‘how the money was transferred to this account.’

RaajjeMV understands that the amount was not transferred under the former president’s name, but rather through a close ally.

The country’s former leader further claimed that ACC has no right to withhold the money as ‘no institution or court has declared that it is corrupt money.’

The Anti-Corruption Commission had, back in November 2017, confirmed that USD one million was transferred to Yameen’s private account through SOF, a company heavily involved in Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC)’s corruption scam.

The anti-corruption watchdog filed a case regarding the money deposited to Yameen’s account by SOF in December 2018, saying that their investigation into the questionable deposit ‘revealed several suspicious details.’

Yameen was previously questioned in December, where he revealed that he was questioned over the money deposited to his private bank account during the 2018 presidential elections campaign.

A money laundering case was filed against Yameen in September 2018, by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) at the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA).

Al Jazeera had, in 2016, exposed the massive corruption including theft, bribery and money laundering in its award-winning documentary ‘Stealing Paradise’.

Back in December, Criminal Court had ordered a freeze on two bank accounts linked to the former president. He has since filed a case at the High Court, seeking to overturn that the order