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Ceylinco Crisis-Golden Credit
Card Scam & The Aftermath
By Darmitha-Kotte
We are indeed saddened to note that Ceylinco Group had to end 2008
on such a crisis note and hit a climax point just before the Christmas
festivities. There is no doubt that Dr.Lalith Kotelawela as well as
Dr.(Mrs) Sicille Kotelawela are not the happiest people today due to
the build up and final expose' of the Golden Key Credit Card Scam which
shocked not only them but more so the Golden Key Credit Card Holders
who had put implicit faith on Seylan Bank, Ceylinco Group and the Golden
Credit Card by investing with them. To those unfortunate investors,
the regular festive season has brought financial disaster but no bonuses
to enjoy the new year.
The word "honest"(adjective) is explained in the Oxford Dictionary
as 1. truthful and sincere 2. fairly earned and 3. simple and straightforward.
The noun "honesty" has been described as "the quality
of being honest."
These are the qualities that Dr.Lalith Kotelawela supposedly strived
to live upto in the management of his business conglomerate but how
much has actually been "honest" has now posed a major question
mark to his reputation both at a personal level and as the corporate
culture of his business operations.
Ceylinco Group Expansion:
It was through the perseverance of Dr.Kotelawela that Ceylinco grew
in to what it is now known to be group of companies numbering over three
hundred we hear. His Business Card is supposed to be a unique design
in order to include all the names of companies which are under his purview-some
say that one needs to "unfold "the Business Card is folded
many times to accommodate the contact details of all the companies!
No doubt, he was indeed a happy man once because he tried his hands
at everything possible-the latest being the Diabetic Detection Centre,
Bakery, Gramaen Banking and a number of others outside the Finance Companies,
Real Estate Developments, Golden Key Credit Card Co.,Seylan Bank, Ceylinco
Savings, Loan Schemes for Agricultural Small Holders, SOLO-U, Ceylinco-Gramaen
Automobiles Private Ltd (through which "Ceygra" 4 stroke three
wheelers are sold through a tie-up with PLC), Ceylinco Travels, Insurance,
Leasing, Car Rentals, Employment Agencies, Security Services, Home-Nursing
Services, Ceylinco Sarana Cattle Protection Centre - in other words
it became a heavily diversified business operation. According to report
in the Sunday Island, "Kotelawela who leads a business empire comprising
over 300 companies is well knwn of his charitable and philanthrophic
efforts to improve the conditions of the poor and marginalized in the
country."
It could very well have been this massive diversity that eventually
caused the downfall of this "philanthrophic businessman" as
Dr. Kotelawela became known as within the business community.
Personality Cult:
Dr. Kotelawela if he had his wish, would very much like to be remembered
as wonderfully humane person. This is quite obvious when one reads his
biography which was written by an employee within the Ceylinco Group.
Every thing of their boss was perfect to the T as it were-no flaws or
shortcomings which in many ways is humanly impossible-however, this
is how he would wish his employees to remember him as.
This is why he made page long advertisements immediately after the
Golden Key Credit Card Scam came into the limelight assuring his clients
continued services and repayment of investments as soon as possible
which is ofcourse not good enough for those who lost their money.
It is this eagerness to create a public image that pushed him into
convincing VC of Sri Jayawardanepura University Mr. Ekwatte into conferring
an Honorary Doctorate to him which the Chancellor at the time Ven. Sumanatissa
Thero objected to on grounds that it was unethical to do so. Mysteriously,
Ven.Sumanatissa was found dead inside the temple well not too long after
the incident of the Honorary Doctorate. A similar fate befell Ven.Gangodawila
Soma Thero due to his outspoken Dhamma sermons where he opened the eyes
of Buddhists on the subject of religious conspiracies & it is a
very well known fact that Dr. Kotelawela forbade employees from hanging
yellow flags to mark Venerable Soma Thero's death.
One weakness we saw very openly was an exhibition of arrogance during
the last couple of years which already created black marks in his ever
pleasant personality.
SOLO-U & Politics:
Irrespective of how we climb up the ladder in public, there are a couple
of things we must always remember if we need to succeed. Of these humility
& honesty are very important. One must also never do anything to
hurt the feelings of one's parents nor forget one's past. In this respect,
there is much that Dr. Kotelawela can learn from. Having been born into
a highly respected Buddhist family after marriage he changed his religion(which
is his personal prerogative and perfectly o.k) and became a Catholic
which has definitely hurt the sentiments of his entire family. Having
said that he is most certainly free to practise a religion of his own
choice but he must be gracious enough to refrain from being antagonistic
towards the religion of his birth. A religious philosophy of which his
own sisters are still devout adherents.
Using SOLO-U Dr. Kotelawela was in the habit of conducting TV programmes
through which he invariably expressed opinions antagonistic towards
Buddhists and the sovereignty of Sri Lanka. When a person supports terrorists
and gives financial aid to a terrorist movement, one is automatically
being disloyal towards one's own Motherland. It is on record that he
gave an interview to Gulf News in which he openly supported the cause
of terrorism by speaking for the LTTE on one of his trips to the Middle
East.
In 2005 just prior to the Presidential Elections in which the current
Executive President was a Presidential Candidate, he proved his religious
bias when he together with Archbishop Oswald Gomis placed page long
advertisements warning against voting for the incumbent President with
his "Christians Awake!" warning stating that Mahinda Rajapakse
represented Sinhala extremism.
However, once the elections were won and it became obvious that this
President was there to stay, gradually the Catholic Bishops and Dr.Kotelawela
began to patronize the current GOSL for their own survival and sneaked
into the "Tharunyate Hetak" movement of Rajapakse Junior even
sponsoring some of their programmes for his own political and business
survival. Whether this is honest and sincere, is another question altogether?
Today, Dr. Kotelawela who masterminded a boycott programme during the
Presidential Elections is singing Hosannas
to President Mahinda Rajapakse & the "Mahinda Chinthanaya"!
It is this very same President and his GOSL and Central Bank that has
come forward today, to save Golden Key Credit Card Scam and Seylan Bank
& the Ceylinco Group from total collapse. Today, the Central Bank
has arranged for Bank of Ceylon to take over operations of Seylan Bank.
Dubious Activities Within the Ceylinco Group of Companies:
During the post-Tsunami scenario Ceylinco Insurance made big business
by promising to pay off for personal vehicle losses and damages and
carried on a massive campaign as " the champion of the grieved
and helpless" but we know of many stories where the full amount
of Insurance Claims were not honoured and these were even reported in
some of the local newspapers.
Ceylinco Gramaen Bank also advertises vigorously about the wonderful
conditions they offer for loans but when interest payments have to be
paid back by debtors, they find that they are required to pay an interest
of over 20% to the bank which was not made clear to them at the time
of applying for the loans!
A big question comes into the minds of Sri Lankan citizens and that
is" If the CEO of a company is absolutely honest in his dealings
and has inculcated such values in his staff members, would it be possible
for the Chief Executive Director of Golden Key Credit Card Company to
misappropriate funds amounting to over Rs.20 billion single-handedly?
At that level, there are bound to be others involved or through whom
certain approvals were obtained before action was taken to implement
so called misappropriations. With money, many seedy deals can be fixed
and let us just hope that the named "guilty party" has not
been bought over to accept guilt and end the story there.
To "save face" as the Chinese saying goes, Dr.Kotelawela
placed advertisements in all newspapers and invited investors to come
to BMICH to explain the situation on 23rd and 24th of December 2008.
Contrary to his expectations, there were angry clients who supposedly
had dared to manhandle Chairman Dr. Kotelawela & threw water on
him as reported in the Sinhalanet website. The tea party he had planned
as a peaceful parting between the grieved investors and the Chairman
was hurriedly cancelled when it became obvious that people were not
in a mood for pleasantries! One cannot expect pleasantries when investors
have busted all their savings and assets in a Credit Card Company that
has over- advertised its capabilities.
For a man who wishes to project a perfect image of himself in the eyes
of the public, this was certainly not a perfect picture. As far as Chairman
Dr. Kotelawela is concerned, there is no doubt that personally, he will
not face a financial crunch given the fact that he has many investments
and assets abroad but it is the local investors who trusted Golden Key
Credit Card Company with their limited assets who face the full brunt
of irresponsible corporate bungling.
Due to the angry reactions of investors(Colombo) on 23rd December,
the meeting scheduled for 24th December targeting the "outstation
clients" had to be cancelled.
Ultimate Solution To a Not So Nice Festive Christmas
Season:
Having faced the wrath of angry clients, it became obvious to the "philanthropic"
Chairman, that clients wanted a satisfactory solution here and now-not
something fairytale many months from now, therefore he decided to sell
Seylan shares as well as some other companies within the Ceylinco Group
of Companies.
Magnanimously, the GOSL and Central Bank have come forward to salvage
the situation and save Seylan Bank from collapse which will incur an
additional burden on government coffers for unscrupulous and dishonest
dealings of private companies.
It is certainly no guarantee that other companies within the Ceylinco
Group will also have to be sold off to pay off the Rs.20 odd billion
debt to investors.
Conclusion:
Let us sincerely hope that Dr. Kotelawela even though he no longer
believes in The Buddha word, there is a thing called "Ditta Dhamma
Vedaneeya Karma"( retribution within this life) unlike in Christianity
where a mere "confession" can cancel all one's misdeeds.
Even as did Jesus Christ express loudly on the Crucifix "Eli,
Eli, Lema, Sabachthani?" - My God! My God ! Why Hast Thou Forsaken
Me? These words may be ringing in the ears of Dr. Kotelawela as well.
Let us be merciful and hope that his drama will be resolved quickly-
personal credibility & reputation is another issue altogether.
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