High Court of the Maldives has endorsed the ruling of the Criminal Court to sentence former President Abdulla Yameen to 5 years in prison over charges of money laundering.
Yameen had been sentenced to 5 years in prison after the Criminal Court found him guilty of receiving and laundering USD 1 million embezzled from the state in the corruption scandal of Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC). Upon appeal of the case, the High Court ruled that Yameen is guilty of depositing the embezzled funds to an investment account to gain benefits from it. The High Court also ruled that depositing funds from other sources to the same account was an act of misleading the origin of the funds.
Criminal Court had sentenced Yameen to 5 years in prison and fined him USD 5 million after finding him guilty of money laundering. Yameen is also currently under trial for another case of accepting bribes and money laundering.