Former Vice President Ahmed Adeeb has revealed that he stopped former President Abdulla Yameen from selling Fuhgiri for USD400,000.
In the Fuhgiri case, former President Yameen is charged with seeking a bribe of USD1.3 million to lease Fuhgiri to City Island Holdings Limited, which was facilitated by Ahmed Krik Riza. The state has accused Yameen of laundering USD1.1 million of the bribe through Sun Investment Private Limited and Sun Construction Engineering Private Limited.
In the trial, Adeeb testified that he served as the tourism minister from 2012-2015 and later on as Vice President while overseeing the tourism ministry at the request of President Yameen. He revealed that Yameen had negotiated the lease of Fuhgiri to Indian managers of a Dubai-based company, with Parliamentarian Ibrahim Rasheed participating in the initial meeting as a local representative of the company. He said that he was instructed by Yameen to begin negotiations with the individuals to lease Fuhgiri for USD2.5 million.
Additionally, Adeeb said that the price was lowered to USD400,000 in order to increase the commission for Yameen. He, however, said he had refrained from sending the prepared letter by the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) as the proposed price was too low, especially compared to the other leased islands in the region.
As such, Adeeb said that the price was changed to USD1.55 million after delays in receiving the commission and the deal was signed off on after being delayed four times. He added that the investors agreed to pay the amount in two installments. He also mentioned that when he inquired about the commission, Yameen assured him that Chairman of Sun Group Ahmed Siyam Mohamed would handle the commission funds. He further noted that no documents were received from the investors, and the deal was facilitated through Riza at Yameen's request.