Yameen's bank account opened six days before transfer of laundered money
This was revealed in a report publicized by the statutory corruption watchdog on Thursday
Former President Abdulla Yameen
A report publicized by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) reveals that former President Abdulla Yameen’s dollar account in the Maldives Islamic Bank (MIB) was opened six days before the transfer of USD one million by the private company used to launder millions from the state-owned Maldives Marketing and Public Relation Corporation (MMPRC).
The report says that the only other money deposited to the account is the USD 250 used to open the account.
The MIB account was opened on 7 October 2015, days after the presidential boat explosion which has been described as an assassination attempt on the former president.
At a press conference held in January, Yameen said that he had asked his former deputy Ahmed Adeeb to transfer money to his account following the explosion. While Adeeb was later arrested over the explosion, prior to that he was managing the former president’s campaign finances and donations.
Further noting that Adeeb had deposited the funds to his account, Yameen denied any knowledge of SOF.
The former vice president, in a statement to the Commission, denied depositing any money to Yameen’s account or asking anyone to do so. He also denied that Yameen had ever asked him to do so.
The USD one million was deposited to Yameen’s account in two transactions, the first USD 500,000 was deposited on 13 October 2015 and the rest two days later. The report also reveals that the money was deposited by an Ahmed Ishfaah Ali from SOF.
While the MMPRC corruption case surfaced in 2015, the report publicized on Thursday was completed in 2017.
Following the investigation, Yameen said that he had deposited the funds to an escrow account at the Bank of Maldives (BML), under an agreement with the corruption watchdog.
He also said that the funds deposited to this escrow account were borrowed from then-Tourism Minister Moosa Zameer.
While the former president has been investigated and interrogated over the allegations, police has frozen two accounts linked to him in turn seizing over MVR 100 million.
The Prosecutor General’s office earlier this week charged him with money laundering. The hearings in the case are to commence next week.
