Former President Abdulla Yameen was interrogated on Sunday over allegations of ‘providing false information’ during an investigation into embezzlement, the police has said.
The Maldives Police Service said in a statement on Monday that they are looking into allegations that Yameen provided false information to a state institution.
Said state institution had been investigating embezzlement out of the state-run Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC), which was given authority to receive payment for island and lagoon leases during his presidency.
Hefty amounts received by the MMPRC had been deposited to an account held by Yameen at the Maldives Islamic Bank, and the police are looking into claims that Yameen had attempted to cover up the extent of his involvement in the embezzlement.
The police had provided details of the allegations and the laws over his potential criminal activity to Yameen, which he formally acknowledged with signature and fingerprint. Yameen had been summoned for 1:30pm and spent four hours at the police headquarters on Sunday.
After having left the police headquarters, Yameen told the press that he had returned the funds in question to the Anti-Corruption Commission, through an account it held at the Bank of Maldives, after it began investigating the matter.
The commission earlier said that a sum of USD 100 million had been transferred to the aforementioned account through a private company, Scores of Flair, the owners of which have been implicated and prosecuted.
Yameen was also questioned in December over funds he held at another account at the Maldives Islamic Bank; the account was declared at the Elections Commission as the one through which he would spend on his bid for re-election in September’s presidential elections.
The Financial Intelligence, the central bank’s investigation arm, has also forwarded allegations against Yameen, and his lawyer Azima Shakoor was interrogated last week on allegations of aiding money laundering.
