Ex-President Yameen ruled guilty in Aarah case

Criminal Court, on Sunday, found former President Abdulla Yameen Abdulla Gayoom guilty case against former Maldivian president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom over the sale of V. Aarah for resort development.

Yameen was charged with money laundering and bribery in connection to the sale of Aarah – which took place during his administration.

He is accused of abusing his position and taking a USD 1 million bribe to facilitate the sale of Aarah to Yoosuf Naeem, a former parliamentary representative for Felidhoo constituency, and laundering the money.

The state has also charged Naeem with giving the bribe.

In a hearing presently ongoing, Yameen was found guilty of both charges.

The hearing has gone to recess, and is scheduled to resume at 14:00pm for sentencing. 

As Yameen has been found guilty on both charges – he faces a prison sentence of at least eight years; minimum of three years for accepting a bribe and a minimum of five years of money laundering. 

However, the prosecution is demanding a 19-year prison sentence for Yameen; an eight-year prison sentence for taking a bribe, and an 11-year prison sentence for money laundering. That is the maximum sentence, which the prosecution cited was adequate in consideration of the position Yameen held at the time the crime was committed. 

Summary of the charges:

Yameen was accused of taking a USD 1 million bribe to facilitate the sale of V. Aarah, and laundering this money.

In this regard, Aarah was handed over to Tourism Ministry at an order by the President’s Office, and registered to 2G Maldives, a company in which Yoosuf Naeem held 99 percent shares. Later on, the island was sold to LA Resorts Private Limited, a company in which Yoosuf Naeem also holds 99 percent shares.

Aarah was under the oversight of MMPRC, a part of Tourism Ministry. LA paid USD 1 million to MMPRC as the acquisition cost of Aarah from 2G. As per the charges, Yoosuf Naeem was issued a USD 1 million cheque by the same company which was deposited into his account and then transferred to Yameen. In this regard, the money was transferred to Yameen through HSBC.

In addition to the transfer of USD 1 million to an account under Yameen’s name at HSBC – additional monies were transferred to an account under Yameen’s name at BML, which was then transferred to an account under Yameen’s name in MIB.

The prosecution stated that Yameen’s MIB account balance stood at USD 3,413,230 which included additional monies apart from the one million.

Yameen’s defense:

Yameen refuted all the allegations by the prosecution. In his defense, Yameen said that he bought the USD 1 million from Yoosuf Naeem, which he paid for in Maldivian Rufiyaa.

He said that USD 1 million was purchased from Yoosuf Naeem at bank rate; whereas he paid him MVR 15,420,000 owed in return.

Yameen had been convicted of similar charges back in 2019. However, he was acquitted by the Supreme Court last November – just short of two years into his five-year prison term.