Former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom has appealed the Criminal Court's order to freeze his bank accounts.
At a press conference on Monday, the former president's lawyer Aishath Azima Shakoor declared that the freezing of his accounts at Bank of Maldives Ltd (BML) and Maldives Islamic Bank (MIB) was politically motivated, and that there were legal concerns involved.
The Criminal Court issued the order in mid-December at the request of the police, in connection with ongoing investigations of alleged corruption against Yameen. Maldives Police Service soon after summoned Yameen for interrogation regarding questionable sums of money deposited in his account during the Presidential Election in September this year.
Police later issued a statement that hefty deposits and financial transactions were made to the former president's accounts over the past five years. Revealing that the assets amounted to over MVR 100 million, Police stated that the accounts were frozen due to the ongoing investigation.
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