The fourth hearing in former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayyoom's money laundering trial commenced on Tuesday morning.
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 (MMPRC) 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.
During the last hearing, former Vice President Ahmed Adeeb Abdul Ghafoor, and former Managing Director of MMPRC Abdulla Ziyath testified against President Yameen, admitting that they carried out illegal activities on the order of the former president.
The state has named former Tourism Minister Moosa Zameer, BML board members Mohamed Shareef and Ibrahim Luvaiz, former ACC President Hassan Luthufee and an individual named Mohamed Waseem Ismail as additional witnesses of the state.
Former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayyoom
