Police in the Maldives have asked the country’s prosecutor general to charge a former president with money laundering and his former Cabinet minister with aiding him. A police statement Wednesday night said that investigators have found grounds to charge Yameen Abdul Gayoom and his former Legal Affairs Minister Azima Shakoor. The case stems from an allegedly shady deal to lease islands for tourist resort development and the discovery of $1 million in Yameen’s bank account. Police also said they asked the prosecutor general to charge Yameen and Shakoor with providing false information to investigators. Yameen lost the presidential election last year after a five-year strongman rule, during which he was accused of corruption and suppressing freedoms. Published in Daily Times, February 8th 2019.