Maldives ex-prez Yameen charged

Male (Maldives): Police in the Maldives has 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 said investigators 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 say 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 fiveyear strongman rule.