MALE (AP) - A court in the Maldives has found the country's former president guilty of money laundering and sentenced him to five years in prison.

The five-member Criminal Court has also ordered Yameen Abdul Gayoom to pay a US$5 million (S$6.8 million) fine.

In its ruling on Thursday (Nov 28), the court found Yameen was guilty of laundering US$1 million in state money for personal gain.

Yameen led the Indian Ocean archipelago state from 2013 to 2018. During that time, he was accused of corruption, muzzling the media and persecuting political opponents. He lost last year's election to current President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.