Multiple witnesses presented against ex-president
Yameen is accused of being involved in the biggest corruption scandal in the country’s history
Ex-President Yameen, ex-VP Adeeb and ACC President Luthufee
State has presented multiple witnesses and evidence against former President Abdulla Yameen, in the money laundering trial against him.
During the court hearing on Thursday, state named former Vice President Ahmed Adeeb Abdul Ghafoor, former Managing Director at Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC), Abdulla Ziyath and President of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Hassan Luthufee as witnesses against country's the former leader.
Other witnesses presented by the state include ACC’s Vice President Muavviz Rasheed, Mohamed Waseem, former Tourism Minister Moosa Zameer, Board Member at the Bank of Maldives Mohamed Luweiz as well as Mohamed Shareef. The total number of witnesses presented were eight.
Yameen asserted that the USD one million deposited to his account was not the funds embezzled through MMPRC but funds deposited through Scores of Flair (SOF), a company implicated in the scandal.
An earlier report by the corruption watchdog revealed that the funds deposited to the bank account of SOF were funds embezzled through MMPRC.
While police also sought separate charges against Yameen over a false testimony he had allegedly given to the corruption watchdog, after Yameen claimed that the USD one million had been transferred to his escrow account.
He had however admitted that the money handed over to the ACC-held account was not the USD one million from SOF, but borrowed from then Tourism Minister Moosa Zameer, going on to admit to having transferred the USD one million in question “to an investment account at the Islamic Bank.”
State prosecutors had then presented a statement by Zameer at Thursday’s hearing, saying that the former president had asked him for USD one million back in 2015. Zameer is to have acquired the money after selling a plot of land under his name in Hulhumale' to a man named Mohamed Waseem.
Luthufee and Muavviz were presented as witnesses, to detail on how the funds were transferred to the escrow account, while Adeeb was presented to prove that the party had not received such a hefty campaign donation, during his time as then-ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM)’s deputy leader since 2012.
Ziyath’s name was presented to prove that Yameen had taken part in discussions to develop resorts when MMPRC had leases islands for tourism development back then, and that he had been aware of the prices, as well as to prove that the USD one million deposited to Yameen’s account through SOF was acquired after leasing an uninhabited island in Gaaf Alif atoll.
In addition, state prosecutors had also presented the former president’s statement to the police as evidence.
State prosecutors also presented the agreement on forming the escrow account, ACC’s investigation report, MMPRC’s audit report, Yameen’s statement to the ACC, transaction cheques, slips, bank statements as well as Yameen’s financial statement at the hearing. State had presented two additional witnesses at court on Thursday.
During the hearing, state prosecutors had appealed to conceal the bank details of Mohamed Waseem, Moosa Zameer and SOF.
Thursday’s hearing concluded after giving the defendant 10 days to provide the necessary documents, as requested by his attorney.
