Yameen, adviser to appear in court over money laundering

Former resident Abdulla Yameen and his adviser Azima Shakoor have been summoned to appear in court over money laundering charges. 

Yameen and Shakoor will be tried separately at the criminal court on Thursday. 

Yameen was charged with receiving US$1 million stolen from the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation, which appeared in his personal account at the Maldives Islamic Bank. 

The police also claim that Yameen received an additional $1.4 million from an undisclosed source. He had more than $6.4 million in his bank accounts. 

More than $90 million paid as resort acquisition fees to the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation was embezzled during Yameen’s administration. 

Yameen’s former adviser and lawyer Azima is accused of helping Yameen to launder money.

Moreover, former vice president Ahmed Adheeb and Abdulla Ziyath, the former MMPRC managing director, are also implicated in the corruption scandal.