ACC says against release of $1m in Yameen's escrow account

Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Monday refused to release $1 million deposited in an escrow account at the Bank of Maldives (BML), under an agreement signed by former President Abdulla Yameen.

The funds, deposited by Yameen on June 10, 2018, were linked to an investigation into the leasing of GA. Vodamula under the MMPRC corruption scandal.

According to the escrow agreement, if the money could not be proven to belong to the state within one year, it was to be returned to Yameen. The deadline for this expired on June 10, 2019.

However, Yameen has since filed a civil suit against BML and the ACC, seeking the return of the funds, claiming that the money should have been transferred to his account after the escrow agreement's expiration.

BML appealed a decision by the Civil Court on the matter, and the case is currently before the High Court.

At Tuesday's hearing, ACC counsel Aishat Shunainath Abdulla argued that the ACC could not release the funds as the investigations into the origin of the money are still ongoing.

"The money is under criminal investigation, and without a decision on the matter, the ACC cannot agree to release the funds to a private individual," she said.

The ACC emphasised that the matter was originally raised in the Civil Court by Yameen and that the debate over the funds should continue there. The ACC lawyer also noted that their role under the escrow agreement was limited to determining whether the money belonged to the state or not, and they had no authority over the release of the funds.

Responding to the ACC's position, BML's counsel, Mazlan Rasheed, questioned whether the bank had been given the authority to decide when to release the funds under the terms of the agreement. He asked for clarity on the bank's role in the matter.

The Civil Court, in its ruling, clarified that the agreement involved an escrow account, which BML was a party to. The court noted that the funds were deposited in an account opened in the name of the ACC at BML and would remain there until a decision was made regarding their ownership. The court highlighted that no transactions could take place in the account while the investigation was ongoing.

Yameen was previously convicted by lower and high courts of receiving $1 million in bribes and laundering the money. However, on November 30, 2021, the Supreme Court overturned his five-year sentence, ruling that the prosecution had failed to prove that the funds were obtained through the leasing of Vodamula.