Former vice president Ahmed Adeeb on Monday accused former president Abdulla Yameen of "framing" him over an explosion on the presidential speedboat Finifenmaa as the first couple returned to Male' from the airport after performing the Hajj pilgrimage in 2015.
Adeeb testified at the criminal court in Yameen's trial over the leasing of Raa Fugguri through the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) corruption scandal that occurred during his administration.
Yameen and his lawyers challenged the admissibility of Adeeb's testimony on the grounds of animosity towards Yameen. The point raised by Yameen and the lawyers to support the argument was Adeeb's prosecution and conviction over the speedboat blast.
Yameen, his wife Fathmath Ibrahim and some bodyguards sustained varying degrees of injuries in the incident. Yameen's then-vice president Adeeb was sentenced to 15 years in prison by the criminal court but the high court later overturned the verdict and ordered a retrial.
Yameen's lawyer Adam Shameem posed questions over the incident. Responding to his questions, Adeeb said he believes he was "framed" at the time.
Asked who was behind the framing, Adeeb said, "It's more likely that it was done by very senior officials of the government." Asked if Yameen could have done it, Adeeb said, "I don't believe so."
Adeeb said further that he did not see any reason that the relationship with Yameen could have weakened. Adeeb said he did not stand to benefit or lose regardless of the outcome of the trial.
Yameen's questions to Adeeb
Yameen directly questioned Adeeb during cross-examination about the Finifenma speedboat blast and the plea agreement with the prosecution.
Referring to Adeeb's claim that he would not benefit from testifying in favour of the prosecution, Yameen questioned whether his house arrest would end if he testified against the state.
In response, Adeeb said he was under house arrest for medical reasons. It was not a relief afforded because of the plea agreement, he said.
When Yameen asked whether he has not been charged over the Finifenma blast as part of the plea deal, Adeeb said there was no such provision in the agreement.
Yameen also asked if Adeeb feared he would lose his current privileges if the opposition Progressive Party of Maldives wins the upcoming presidential election. Adeeb said he did not.
Prosecutors objected to Yameen's last question. Prosecutor Ahmed Shafeeu said the government could not exert influence over the constitutionally independent prosecutor general.
Adeeb's testimony
Adeeb said he had met a group of Indians who were senior officials of a Dubai company about leasing Fuggiri as instructed by Yameen.
Maafannu Medhu MP Ibrahim Rasheed 'Bonde' was present at the first meeting, Adeeb said. But Adeeb did not say in which capacity that Bonde joined the meeting. In response to questions from defence lawyers, Adeeb said Bonde was the company's representative in the Maldives.
The acquisition cost for the island agreed upon at the meeting was USD 2.5 million. But co-defendant Ahmed 'Krik' Riza later requested a reduction to USD 400,000 on behalf of the company, Adeeb said.
But since USD 400,000 was far too low as other Raa atoll islands had been leased for close to USD 5 million, Adeeb said he withheld a letter prepared by the MMPRC to lease the island at the lower cost.
In discussions with Yameen about the cost, Adeeb said Yameen told him that his commission could not be increased without reducing the cost.
"I advised president Yameen that it could be leased for USD 1.55 at the minimum. Otherwise a lot of problems would arise later. I was able to convince president Yameen," Adeeb said.
Fuggiri was leased without a bidding process to the Dubai-based Classic Citi Island Holding. Fuggiri was leased to the company for USD 1.55 million.
Adeeb said the agreement signing was delayed twice on the instructions of Yameen. While the signing had been due to take place in the morning of the date that was decided, it could only be signed in the late afternoon, Adeeb said.
"We waited since 10 in the morning. But president Yameen informed that Krik Riza would provide confirmation of the commission payment, and that it should be signed after that. When Krik gave the confirmation and informed president Yameen, we were able to sign in the late afternoon that day," Adeeb said.
The charges
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.
On May 26, 2016, USD 1.1 million was transferred from an account opened under Riza's name at the Bank of Ceylon to Sun Construction. The money was deposited as an "in-house transfer" on June 7, 2016 to an account opened by Sun Investment at the Bank of India.
On the same day, the money was deposited with an additional USD 800 to an account opened under Yameen's name at the Islamic Bank.
