Former President, Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom has been brought to the Criminal Court for a hearing in the money laundering case against him.

As this is the first hearing in the case, it is a preliminary hearing where the charges against the former president would made clear and entering into a plea.

The former President was charged with money laundering after USD 1 million was transferred to his accounted at the Maldives Islamic Bank (MIB) from SOF Company, which is the core of the MMPRC corruption scandal where MVR 1.4 billion was embezzled.

Yameen was taken into custody after a court order to prevent potential evidence tampering.

However, with the detention appealed at the High Court, the Criminal Court order was overruled and the former President was released on 28 May 2019.