Ex-president's hearing on money laundering, bribery charges set for Sunday

The Criminal Court has scheduled a hearing in the two additional charges raised against jailed former President Abdulla Yameen, for Sunday.

The hearing is scheduled for 2pm.

Fresh charges were raised against Yameen, in relation to the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) corruption scandal, earlier this year; he is accused of money laundering and accepting bribes in leasing of R. Fuhgiri for resort development.

While the last hearing in the case was held on November 26, the defence was given additional time to prepare in light of the issues noted during the hearing. This includes the state’s failure to arrange meetings between Yameen and his attorneys as well as claims that an electronic device provided by the state “was bugged”. Further, his attorneys noted that arrangements have not been made for them to listen to some audio clips submitted as evidence, as well as to analyze other data, together with their client. The defence also claimed to not have received the complete case documentations.

The state’s attorney noted that this is the first time these issues are being mentioned, and called the defence irresponsible for doing so during hearing. She said that the Prosecutor General’s Office could have helped to find a solution, had the issues been mentioned prior to hearing.

While presiding Judge Ahmed Shakeel concluded the hearing after announcing the next one will be held on December 6, he had asked to ensure that all issues are solved by then.

Yameen is accused of laundering USD 1,117,000 taken as a bribe, allegedly from a man named Ahmed Kirk Riza, through Sun Construction and Engineering Private Limited and Sun Investment Private Limited

He was charged under section 510, part (a) and (d) of the penal code, as well as section 53, part (a), section 5, part (a) (3) and section 53, part (b) of the Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing Terrorism Act of the country.

The former president could face a sentence four to eight years, if proven guilty of the corruption charges and stands a jail term between five to 15 years, and a fine ranging between MVR 100,000 and MVR one million or five times the amount laundered, if the money-laundering charges are proven.

The highest amount estimated to be imposed as fines is USD 5,585,000, which is five times the amount that was laundered.

The Fuggiri corruption case was investigated through the joint efforts of the police, Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and the presidential inquiry commission on asset recovery.

Yameen was convicted on money-laundering charges on November 28th last year, for laundering USD one million through the state-owned Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) via a private company SoF, during his presidency. He was sentenced to five years in prison and fined USD five million to be paid within in six months.