Elections Commission of Maldives has revealed the bank accounts owned by presidential candidates were not declared by the institution during the campaign trail. The commission made the statement in the wake of former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom being summoned for questioning as part of an investigation regarding the cases of financial fraud and illegal transactions that have taken place during the term of his presidency.
The former president was summoned and questioned regarding a deposit of over USD 1.4 million to one of his accounts during the run-up to the presidential election. He had said the deposit was made as funds for campaign activities and claimed the account was declared by the Elections Commission.
Speaking in a press conference, President of Elections Commission Ahmed Shareef said it is not a must for presidential candidates to declare bank accounts, although electoral laws suggest specific bank accounts should be allocated to fund for campaign activities. In this regard, the head of the electoral body said no documents were submitted by former President Yameen identifying the bank accounts that would be used to deposit campaign funds. However, Shareef said a financial statement was submitted by the former president during the presidential election. He further noted both presidential candidates spent a similar amount of money for the campaign.
Maldives Police Service had revealed close to USD 6.5 million in bank accounts owned by former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom has been frozen. The police further noted multiple cases have been filed by several authorities against the former president.