Former president Abdulla Yameen on Tuesday objected to how the police obtained bank account statements and transaction details for the investigation of the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) corruption scandal, warning that it would cause damage to the whole economy.
Yameen is accused of corruption over the leasing of Raa Fuggiri island as part of the embezzlement scheme carried out during his administration. Charges were also raised against Ahmed 'Krik' Riza and the Sun Investment and Sun Construction and Engineering companies.
Yameen was charged with accepting bribery and money laundering whilst Riza was charged with money laundering and acting as an intermediary to bribery. Both Sun companies were charged with money laundering.
At Tuesday's hearing of the ongoing trial, the criminal court heard arguments on motions filed by Yameen and Krik Riza challenging the admissibility of key pieces of evidence.
The defence lawyers asked the court to rule that bank statements submitted as evidence had been obtained illegally without court orders.
Allowed to speak directly, Yameen noted that the bank statements include transactions that date back to 2010. The statements were obtained without a court warrant, he said.
As upholding the secrecy of banking information was a basic right, Yameen believed that the information could only be obtained in exceptional circumstances with a court order. Yameen alleged attempts to expose the information to the public in an effort to bring him into disrepute.
If the law is interpreted to allow investigative agencies and the prosecutor general to obtain information about bank customers with a request in writing, the consequences could be dire, Yameen warned.
"What is the result of acting irresponsibly like this in the cases of us politicians? The result is that customers and investors will lose confidence in banks. The whole banking system, the whole economy will face damage," Yameen said.
Citing the banking law, the prosecutor noted that there were three avenues for seeking evidence from banks. The law states that bank account information cannot be divulged without either a court order or upon written request by the prosecutor general or an investigative agency.
Yameen and Riza filed various motions objecting to the prosecution's evidence. The court was asked to rule that evidence sought from banks and obtained by investigative agencies other than the presidential commission on asset recovery would be inadmissible.
Case summary
According to the prosecution, Yameen used his influence as president to collect USD 1.1 million as a bribe through Riza and laundered the money through Sun Investment and Sun Construction and Engineering.
Fuggiri was leased through the MMPRC without a bidding process to the Dubai-based Classic Citi Island Holding. Fuggiri was leased to the company for USD 1.55 million. While bribery was suspected in the leasing of Fuggiri, the Pandora Papers revealed that influential Indian businessmen were behind the deal.
Records from the leaked Pandora Papers showed that Classic Citi was a partnership involving the family business of Indian property developer Avinash Bhosale and influential logistics businessman Amit Kumar Gandhi.
Yameen, who was awarded the presidential ticket of the Progressive Party of Maldives, is currently serving an 11-year prison sentence. He was convicted at the criminal court of accepting a USD 1.1 million as a bribe to lease Vaavu Aarah island through the MMPRC and then laundering the money. The verdict has been appealed at the High Court.
