Yameen locks horns with Adeeb at money laundering trial
The former vice president testified as a state witness.
22 Aug 2019, 9:00 AM
In dramatic scenes at the criminal court on Thursday, former president Abdulla Yameen quarrelled with his former vice president Ahmed Adeeb as the estranged pair faced each other for the first time in four years.
The 60-year-old opposition leader is on trial on money laundering charges over US$1 million deposited to his personal account by SOF, a company that was used to funnel the bulk of US$90 million stolen from state coffers. The unprecedented corruption scandal came to light in the wake of vice president Adeeb’s jailing in October 2015 over an an alleged plot to assassinate Yameen.
At a televised hearing on Thursday, Adeeb testified as a prosecution witness to undermine Yameen’s defence concerning the source of the US$1 million. It had been owed by Adeeb who was managing campaign funds at the time, Yameen previously told the court.
But Adeeb said campaign donations never exceeded MVR200,000 (US$12,970) and were only collected ahead of elections. There were no elections in late 2015 when Yameen claims to have asked him for the funds, he said.
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