Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Dec 26: The former president of Maldives, Abdulla Yameen, has been sentenced to 11 years in prison and fined $5 million by the Maldives criminal court on Sunday after being found guilty of corruption and money laundering charges.
As per information, the court has found Yameen guilty of accepting money to lease a government-owned island. The court has given the former leader a seven-year sentence for money laundering and four years for accepting a bribe.
Yameen lost power in 2018 but has been declared the presidential candidate for the Progressive Party of the Maldives for an election due in 2023.
Earlier in 2019, he was sentenced to five years in prison and fined $5 million in 2019 for embezzling $1 million in state funds, which the prosecution said was acquired through the lease of resort development rights.
After his sentencing, Yameen was shifted to house arrest in 2020 and was freed months later.
Since his release, Yameen, the half-brother of former dictator Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, has returned to active politics with a campaign against Indian influence in the Maldives, raising concerns in New Delhi.
