Former President Abdulla Yameen has been granted MVR 2.4 million entitlement as Former President Allowances for his incarceration time.
Yameen was convicted of money laundering charges for which he was serving a prison sentence. However, the Supreme Court overturned his conviction last year. Yameen requested to receive the allowances entitled to former presidents for his incarceration time of two years.
Finance Ministry’s Media Director Mohamed Shanoon confirmed that the allowance has been deposited into Yameen’s account. He also noted that in addition to the MVR 2.4 million – the allowances for December, have also been deposited into his account.
The total sum of MVR 2.4 million is made up as follows; MVR 50,000 per month as financial allowance and MVR 50,000 per month as living expenses for the two years he was incarcerated. MVR 4 million was allotted by the government from the contingency budget to issue the allowances entitled to Yameen after the Supreme Court’s ruling.
The constitution dictates that former presidents are entitled to benefits such as security, a monthly allowance, and office administrative costs. The benefits and allowances entitled to Yameen were halted following the initial money laundering conviction.