Asia Pacific
22:22, 18-Feb-2019
Maldivian court orders arrest of ex-leader Yameen
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A Maldivian court on Monday ordered the arrest and detention of former president Abdulla Yameen on money laundry charges.
The court agreed to a prosecution request to detain Yameen until the end of the trial. The former president was charged last week with laundering nearly 1.5 million U.S. dollars before he lost his re-election bid in September.
"Prosecutors said that Yameen had allegedly attempted to bribe witnesses," a court official said, adding that the former president would be taken to the Dhoonidhoo prison island near the capital.
Yameen appeared in criminal court in the capital Male. He is accused of receiving one million U.S. dollars of government money through a private company, SOF Private Limited, which has been implicated in a corrupt deal to lease tropical islands for hotel development.
He denies the allegations.
The criminal court has already frozen Yameen's local bank account holding MVR100 million (nearly 6.5 million U.S. dollars) which he has appealed.
Yameen, who came to power in 2013, had been summoned to the Criminal Court Sunday to formally receive his indictment.
Preliminary hearings in his money-laundering trial are expected to begin this week.
On Friday, Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih suspended two government ministers over financial transactions conducted with SOF Private.
The scandal has implicated several other businessmen and politicians, all of whom deny wrongdoing.
(With inputs from agencies)
(Cover: Former Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen speaks to the media outside a police station where he had been questioned by investigators on money laundry allegations in Male, January 8, 2019. /VCG Photo)