Supreme Court Poses Questions About Cheque Used In SOF Transaction

During former President Yameen’s appeal of the Criminal Court case that sentenced him to five years in prison: the Supreme Court judicial panel has posed several questions to the prosecution regarding the cheque used to deposit funds in SOF Pvt Ltd’s account.

The judicial panel pointed out to the prosecution that the cheque number in the case file did not match the cheque number listed in the SOF Pvt Ltd financial statement. The panel also mentioned that the lower court had not submitted the cheque, but rather it had been submitted by the appellant.

Judge Mahaz noted that the number on the cheque itself, the cheque number on the receipt and on the account statement did not match. Ahmed Naufal, on behalf of the prosecution, said that the discrepancy was of a few characters, but that this was no more than a typographical error made in the preparation of the account statement. Naufal said that the deposited sum and the dates match, and these other circumstances demonstrated that this cheque had been used to deposit the funds into SOF Pvt Ltd’s account.

On behalf of the appellant, Abdullah Shiyaz stated that the prosecution had neglected to inform the lower court and the appellant of the discrepancies with regards to the cheque number. He said that this proves the State’s negligence.

Judge Mahaz asked the prosecution if it could be proven beyond reasonable doubt Mauritius Commercial Bank cheque had been used to deposit the funds into the account. He noted that all of the cheques referred to in the account statement were Bank of Maldives cheques.

Naufal responded that based on the cheque number and the receipts, it was clear that an MCB cheque and a BML cheque had been used. However, he admitted, the cheque referred to in the account statement was unknown. Naufal maintained that based on the cheque and its deposit slip it was clear that this was the cheque used for that transaction. No other transaction of one million USD had taken place on the date, he said.

Prior to ending today’s hearing, Judge Mahaz said that the Supreme Court would work to conclude the case prior to going for recess.