Hearings conclude on BML's case against presidential commission

The Civil Court has concluded hearings on Bank of Maldives (BML)’s case against the presidential commission on corruption and asset recovery.

On Tuesday, the presiding judge said the verdict hearing will be held on August 7 or after the Eid holidays.

BML has requested the Civil Court to order the commission to not take action against any bank employee that refuses to give them information, and also order them to seek court approval to obtain information from officials.

On July 7, BML stated that it will only provide information to investigative authorities if ordered by the court, citing a High Court ruling on Article 72 of the Criminal Procedure Act.

At the Civil Court hearing, Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC)’s legal representative Soffath Ali said that BML had provided information even after the High Court’s ruling and that the ruling does not prevent banks from giving information.

At an earlier meeting with the parliament’s finance committee, BML deputy CEO Mohamed Shareef said they have stopped helping investigative authorities and that the bank’s policy is to seek legal counsel when asked to reveal bank account information.

He detailed that their lawyers told them to request a court order, according to the High Court ruling, after the asset recovery commission requested for information.

The ruling is regarding the High Court’s decision to overturn the order to freeze former President Abdulla Yameen’s bank account on March 31. The court ruled that the order to freeze his bank account was in violation of Article 72 and 73 of the Criminal Procedure Act and that a court order is required to obtain customer information.