The court trials against former President Abdulla Yameen and his administration’s legal affairs minister Azima Shakoor have been stalled since March.

Money-laundering charges were filed against the former president on February 13, in relation to the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) embezzlement case.

Investigations show that a company implicated in the corruption scandal had deposited MVR one million to Yameen’s private account at the Maldives Islamic Bank (MIB). A report publicized by the Anti-Corruption Commission reveals that the MIB account was opened just six days before the funds were transferred.

While the ACC had confirmed the transfer in November 2017, the former president was asked to deposit the funds to an escrow account at the Bank of Maldives (BML), under an agreement with the corruption watchdog.

Police had also sought separate charges against Yameen over alleged false testimony to the ACC, after Yameen claimed that the USD one million had been transferred to this escrow account. However, he later admitted that the money handed over to the ACC-held account was not the US$1 million from SOF, but borrowed from then-Tourism Minister Moosa Zameer. He also admitted to transferring the USD one million in question “to an investment account at the Islamic Bank.”

Yameen defended this, saying “one million for one million was deposited to the escrow account.”

Azima Shakoor, his administration’s legal affairs director has been charged with accessory to money-laundering and providing false information to the authorities, in the president’s case.

The first hearing in the former president’s case was held on February 18, where the Criminal Court ordered to keep him remanded for the remainder of the trial over alleged witness tampering.

High Court ordered to release him a little over a month later while under house arrest, noting the lack of evidence to prove attempts to influence witnesses.

The high court also released Yameen’s bank accounts, eight of which were frozen as requested by the Maldives Police Service.

RaajjeMV was unable to obtain a comment from the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), on why the cases have been on hold, at the time of publishing.