'Ex-pres Yameen did not contact me to collect campaign funds' - Adeeb

Former Vice President Ahmed Adeeb Abdul Ghafoor has testified in court that former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayyoom did not contact him to obtain campaign funds related to any election.

Taking the witness stand as a witness of the State in the money laundering trial against president Yameen, Adeeb said Yamen did not contact him to receive any campaign funds, but contacted him on multiple occasions regarding funds pertaining to MMPRC.

Once the closest aide of President Yameen, Adeeb further said President Yameen contacted him on several occasions requesting funds that were deposited into the accounts of some private companies. Although Yameen claims the suspicious funds deposited into his account were campaign contributions, the funds in question were not campaign funds, said Adeeb.

Noting that no elections were held in 2015, Adeeb said the largest amounts received from donors contributing to campaigns are usually around MVR 200,000 when an election is looming up ahead.

The defense has previously requested the presiding judge not to accept Adeeb's testimony as he is likely to harbor ill feelings towards President Yameen. However Judge Ahmed Hailam made the decision to accept his testimony. During today's hearing, Adeeb assured under oath that he holds no personal grudges nor does he harbor any hostility towards anyone at the time of giving his witness statement.

President Yameen is accused of defying the agreement between himself and ACC, which stipulated the former president to move funds in his Maldives Islamic Bank (MIB) account that are suspected of having being laundered, into an escrow account set up between the two parties.

While two cheques worth US$ 1 million were deposited into Yameen's MIB account by a private company named SOF Pvt Ltd, the funds are said to be embezzled state funds that were to be received by Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Company as acquisition cost for leasing islands for tourism purpose.

ACC instructed Yameen to move the deposited funds to the escrow account, however, President Yameen transferred US$ 1 million from his Bank of Maldives (BML) account instead of from the account in question. The transferred funds are reported to have been deposited into President Yameen's BML account by former Tourism Minister Moosa Zameer.

Yameen is accused of attempting to cover up the source and trail of the original funds in his MIB account in an attempt to launder the funds. The original funds deposited by SOF Pvt Ltd were moved to President Yameen's investment account at Maldives Islamic Bank. If the money laundering charge against Yameen is proven, he will receive a sentence of 5-15 years in prison.