{"id":99727,"date":"2020-03-08T17:45:28","date_gmt":"2020-03-09T00:45:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=99727"},"modified":"2020-03-08T17:45:28","modified_gmt":"2020-03-09T00:45:28","slug":"ravages-of-2015-part-iv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/03\/08\/ravages-of-2015-part-iv\/","title":{"rendered":"RAVAGES OF 2015 \u2013 Part IV"},"content":{"rendered":"

By : A.A.M.NIZAM \u2013 MATARA<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Now let us revisit the 015 General Election process which was held in between the two Treasury Bond robberies.\u00a0 Within a few weeks of ousting the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, people were greatly dismayed and unable to bear with the loss this great leader busloads of people started arriving in Medamulana from nearby districts such as Matara, Galle, and Ratnapura and far away districts Trincomalee, Vavuniya and Anuradhapura and from other districts in between and express their grief to Mr. Mahinda Rbeen forced Rajapaksa over the folly that has been forced on the country by the diaspora and the reactionary conspirators.\u00a0 Eye witnesses said that some people especially the women folk prostrated before him in wailing and begged him to come back and rescue them and demanded said that he is the Diyasen Kumaraya who is destined to rescue and save the people of this country.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diyasen Kumaraya is a king the Sri Lankan\nSinhala Buddhists believe will be born in Sri Lanka after a lapse of 2500 years\nfrom the birth of Lord Buddha, to preserve the culture and Buddhism in this country.\nThe foretelling about this by God Sumana, to an ascetic – of the reincarnation\nof King Parakumba, as a great King whose birth is to usher in all possible\nwealth, prosperity and good health to Sri Lanka – marks the origin of this\nbelief. This factor is recorded in an Ola leaf that has provided vital evidence\nto support this belief and this Ola leaf exists in the National Museum to this\nday. This Ola leaf containing the Sumana sutta was found from a temple in\nAlgamuwa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the election was approaching it became very clear that the UPFA headed by Mr. Rajapaksa will win the election easily. When this factor became clear the jealous and vicious hopperman Sirisena went into action and issued a letter one week before the election stating that even if Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa secures a lead in the election, under the powers vested in him by the constitution Mr. Rajapaksa will not be appointed as the Prime Minister and only an MP of his choice will be appointed.\u00a0 This was a great shock to many voters and it disheartened them and they decided to refrain from voting in the election.\u00a0 Sirisena proceeding further with his vicious and dictatorial activities, two days before the election, dismissed the General Secretaries of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party Mr. Anura Priyadarshana Yapa and the United People\u2019s Freedom Alliance Mr. Susil Premjayanth and appointed his minions to fill the vacancies since the General Secretaries of the parties were empowered under the election Law to take election-related decisions including nomination of Nationalist List MPs.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite various intimidation, threats and obstructions to the election campaign of the UPFA candidates and UPFA supporters and the government misusing all government resources for the benefit and promotion of the UNP election campaign, the UNP, and its cohorts failed to secure an absolute majority in the election and they won only 106 seats against the 95 seats won by the harassed and intimidated UPFA under the leadership of fMr. Mahinda Rajapaksa.\u00a0 Sirisena at that time considered the Mahinda Rajapaksa candidates as his sworn enemies and even the megalomaniac Prabhakaran wouldn\u2019t have treated his opponents in such a manner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under these circumstances, Hopperman Sirisena came to the rescue of the UNP and appointed the UPFA candidates rejected by the people as National List MPs of the UPFA and then made the newly appointed SLFP General Secretary to sign a partnership MOU with the UNP to form a coalition government called the National Unity Government\u201d which labeled themselves a the Yahapalana government\u201d. The TNA won 16 seats and the JVP 6 seats in the election. The SLMC, ACMC, Mano Ganeshan\/Digambarans\u2019s TPA and JHU contested as constituents of the UNP calling themselves as the United National Front (UNF) (Union of Notorious Fraudsters) under UNP\u2019s Elephant symbol the seats that were won by them and their National list MPs included in the UNP\u2019s 106 seats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether we will ever see an end to these scams is a question not too difficult to answer given the times we live in and lived in. With the general election around the corner, our choices are limited when it comes to selecting honest representatives, untainted by fraud, bribery, and corruption, from among the candidates nominated by the various political parties,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As promised in President GR\u2019s election manifesto Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour\u201d action has been taken to round up and punish the Bonds Scam robbers who fleeced this country economically.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Grand Robbers \u2013 Courtesy: Google Chrome<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Criminal Investigation Department\n(CID) has filed a case against Parliamentarian Ravi Karunanayake in the Colombo\nFort Chief Magistrate\u2019s Court for having allegedly provided false evidence\nbefore the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) which probed the Central\nBank Treasury Bonds scam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CID told Court that as stated in the\nreport compiled by the PCol, which probed the CBSL Treasury Bonds scam from 1\nFebruary 2015 to 31 March 2016 and based on its 25th recommendation, from the\ninquiry conducted by the CID, from 24 January this year and on the hearing\nconducted by the PCol on 2 August, 2017, it had come to light that Karunanayake\nhad provided false evidence before the PCol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CID informed the Court that the AG had informed the President of his decision on implementing the recommendations contained in the PCoI report and that through the letter dated 24 January, the AG had ordered the CID to launch an inquiry if they are satisfied that individuals, Chief Executive Officer of the primary dealer Perpetual Treasuries Limited (PTL) Kasun Palisena, Steve Samuel, Karunanayake and B.J.R. Sinnaiah had provided false evidence before the PCol and if the said offense falls under Section 109(5)(A) of the Penal Code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CID informed the Court that the offense committed falls under the said Section of the Penal Code. Also, the AG had advised the CID that if the suspects could be identified they should be apprehended and produced before a Magistrate. However, before doing so what the suspects have to say should be recorded as statements given by them and then launch inquiries into such statements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They added that they had considered the\nrecommendations and the findings contained in the PCol report and the evidence\ngiven on oath by then Minister Karunanayake had also been included in the\nreport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CID informed Court that they had\ninitiated a probe to verify the truth of the statements provided by\nKarunanayake before the PCoI and that they had already recorded statements from\n30 persons in this connection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They said that at first glance of the\nevidence on oath by the MP concerned before the PCol, it was clear to them that\nthe MP had intentionally provided false evidence and based on Sections 188 and\n190 of the Penal Code, Karunanayake had committed the punishable offence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CID reported to the Court that\nKarunanayake had provided certain evidence before the PCol which probed the\nCBSL Treasury Bonds scam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These concerned: 1) The alleged connection\nbetween Karunanayake and PTL Beneficiary Owner Arjun Aloysius; 2) Whether\nKarunanayake knew Neil de Silva or about whether Karunanayake was aware of the Short\nMessage Service sent by de Silva to Karunanayake\u2019s cell phone; 3) Whether\nKarunanayake had inquired from Vijitha Wijesuriya on renting a suitable house;\nand when Karunanayake and his family members had inquired from Wijesuriya at\ntimes on renting a suitable house or whether Karunanayake was aware that the\nrent paid for the house he had occupied at the Monach Housing Scheme had been\npaid either by Aloysius or the Walt and Row firm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based on the aforesaid submissions, the\nCID has named Karunanayake for having allegedly provided false evidence before\nthe PCol and they will need to record statements in this connection from\nKarunanayake, Mela Karunanayake, Onela Karunanayake, B.J.R. Karunanayake,\nAloysius and Attorney Sumathipala Udugamsuriya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CID told the Court that besides the\naforesaid persons they will also need to peruse if there had been phone\nconnections to the workplaces of Neil de Silva, Don Gallage and Anika\nWijesuriya from1 January, 2015 to 2 August last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CID also requested the Court to issue\nan order to the Global Transportation and Logistics firm to release details of\ntheir transactions and details of its Director Board from 1 January, 2015 to 2\nAugust, last year to the CID.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Colombo Fort Chief Magistrate granted\napproval for each of the requests and ordered the prosecution to file a\nprogress report on the case when it is next heard on 28 September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, the Attorney General, President\u2019s Counsel Dappula de Livera has ordered the Acting Inspector General of Police to obtain warrants for the arrest of several suspects including MP Ravi Karunanayake, former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran, Perpetual Treasuries Director Arjun Aloysius and CEO Kasun Palisena in connection with the Central Bank bond scam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warrants have been issued for the arrest\nof the accused on charges of criminal misappropriation, fraud and mismanagement\nof the market, the AG\u2019s Coordinating Officer Nishara Jayaratne stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Attorney General has instructed to\ncharge the suspects with conspiracy to misappropriate Rs 51.98 billion in\nCentral Bank bond auctions on March 29 and March 31, 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his letter to Acting IGP C.D.\nWickramaratne, the Attorney General Dappula De Livera states that there is\nreasonable suspicion against the group of individuals with regard to the\ncriminal wrongdoings which had occurred during the Treasury bond issuances on\nMarch 29 and March 31, 2016 and that they should be considered as suspects:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The AG has instructed the Acting IGP to name them as suspects with regard to the investigations, record statement from them and report information to the court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The suspects are Perpetual Treasuries\nLimited, Ravindra Karunanayake, Lakshman Arjuna Mahendran, Arjun Joseph\nAloysius, Palisena Appuhamilage Don Kasun Oshada Palisena, Geoffrey Joseph\nAloysius, Chitta Ranjan Hulugalle, Muthuraja Surendran, Ajahn Gardiye\nPunchihewa, Thuyya Handiyage Buddhika Sarathchandra, Sangarapillai\nPathumanapan, Badugoda Hewa Indika Saman Kumara. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After an extensive review of documents and evidence, the Colombo Fort Chief Magistrates Court issued arrest warrants on 6th<\/sup> March against former Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake, Arjuna Mahendran, Arjun Aloysius and nine others, \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier the Fort Magistrate also imposed a travel ban on\nformer Minister Ravi Karunanayake, Perpetual Treasuries Ltd (PTL) owner Arjun\nAloysius and 10 others in connection with the bond scam.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When security personnel went to arrest Karunanayake they have found that he has left the house and absconding somewhere. In the meantime, someone very close to Karunanayake has appealed to some big wigs of the SLPP to get his arrest warrant suspended saying that he is afflicted with several illness, for which the SLPP big wigs have responded that this government does not interfere with judicial matters as it was done by the UNP government and this government has given for the Courts to act on their own.\u00a0 Now we have to wait and see whether this culprit will surrender or would flee the country through a boat or some other way.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the case was taken up before Colombo Fort Magistrate Ranga Dissanayake, Senior Deputy Solicitor General (SDSG) Haripriya Jayasundara requested the Magistrate to issue an arrest warrant on the twelve suspects who have violated the law during two Treasury bond auctions conducted on March 29 and March 31, 2016.\u00a0 \u00a0Citing misappropriation, SDSG Jayasundara said that treasury bonds had been issued with a face value of Rs. 36.98 billion on March 29, 2016. During the submission, he informed the Court that the Attorney General stated that these suspects could face charges of insider dealing and market manipulation under Section 386 and 398 of the Penal Code read with 5 (1) and 5 (2) of the Public Property Act. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She also informed Court that the charges\ncan be filed under the Registered Stock and Securities Ordinance read with the\nCBSL\u2019s Code of Conduct for primary dealers.   
\nHowever, Magistrate questioned the SDSG and the CID, if the charges come under\nthe Public Property Act, why the Police could not apprehend the suspects\nwithout obtaining an arrest warrant from the Magistrate.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responding to the question, SDSG\nJayasundara said that since the case was sensitive, the CID and the AG\u2019s\nDepartment had decided to inform the Magistrate on obtaining an arrest warrant.\nExplaining the matter, SDSG Jayasundara said that the culprits behind the\nparticular matter had created an artificial market in 2016 and due to this\nviolation there had been a public nuisance within the country.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n


When Ravi Karunanayake was serving as the Finance Minister, he had a meeting with three leading state bank officials and at this meeting, Mr. Karunanayake had told the bank officials to maintain a certain limit when issuing treasury bonds. Accordingly, the banks had to decrease the limit of issuing treasury bonds when conducting auctions and this had caused a huge market slump within this period,\u201d she informed the Magistrate.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said that due to this limit maintained by the State Banks during that time, PTL had obtained many illegal bonds violating the law and this matter had affected the Employees Trust Fund (ETF) in the country.\u00a0 \u00a0However, Magistrate said that the Magistrate Court could not maintain a case under violation of the Public Property Act above Rs. 500 and therefore, evidence of the particular case be taken as affidavits.\u00a0 \u00a0The Magistrate also said that without taking evidence that is related to the matter, he could not issue an arrest warrant on the suspects.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Relevant extracts from the island\neditorial of 6th March are given below to conclude this article.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The police, acting on a directive by the\nAttorney General, sought arrest warrants to take into custody 12 persons in\nconnection with the bond scams under the yahapalana government, and the court\ndecision thereon is expected today. The matter is best left to the learned\njudge, and we don\u2019t comment thereon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


We, however, can\u2019t help wondering why on earth there are frustratingly protracted delays on the part of the state prosecutor and the long arm of the law as regards action to be taken against suspects with political connections. If an ordinary motorist fails to pay a fine for a minor traffic offense, within the stipulated period, he is hauled up before the court. About ten years ago, we highlighted the predicament of two small schoolgirls who happened to be on the wrong side of the law due to their pecuniary woes. One of them stole a few coconuts from her neighbor as her mother had no money to pay for her school fees. The police swooped on her and produced her in court. The other girl stole five rupees from a neighboring house, unable to bear the pangs of hunger. No sooner had she done so than she was arrested and taken to court. But when massive frauds, running into billions of rupees, are committed, the AG\u2019s Department and the police take a month of Sundays to take action against them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What would have happened if a peon had\nbeen caught in the act of stealing a bundle of photocopying paper from the\nCentral Bank, on 27 February 2015? He would have been interdicted and handed\nover to the police the following day itself. But such swift action was\nconspicuous by its absence as regards the grandees who fraudulently earned\nbillions of rupees from the bond auctions at the Central Bank, on 27 February\n2015, and committed a bigger fraud one year later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The AG\u2019s Department is also to be blamed\nfor having given kid glove treatment to the bond racketeers, initially, under\nthe yahapalana government. Some of its senior officials, no doubt, deserve\npraise for having exposed the bond scammers, before a presidential commission\nof inquiry. But the fact remains that if the AG\u2019s Department had taken timely\naction against the culprits involved in the first bond scam, in 2015, the\nsecond one committed, in 2016, could have been prevented and the culprits including\nthe then CB Governor Arjuna Mahendran arrested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No probe into the bond scams is complete\nwithout an investigation into an AG\u2019s Department file which has been either\nshelved or made to disappear, as we have pointed out in this space previously.\nOn 30 June, 2015, the CID handed over a file (No: C\/187\/161\/2015) on the first\nbond scam to the AG\u2019s Department. A senior official who received it found a\nprima facie case of insider trading and market manipulation; he opened a\ncriminal file and handed it over to a senior counsel for further action.\nStrangely, criminal action against the bond racketeers was subsequently\nterminated; the file was turned into a confidential document (CF\/08\/2015) 999and\npassed on to another senior counsel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In June 2016, that official, acting within the parameters\nset by his superiors, recommended that civil action be taken against Perpetual\nTreasuries to recover the losses caused by it. The file has not been sighted\never since. What has become of that vital document? The AG\u2019s Department owes an\nexplanation to the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In January 2019, the Hambantota High Court imposed the death sentence on a 69-year-old man who had shot a youth dead and injured another 32 years back. It is fervently hoped that cases against those who cause staggering losses to the state coffers through various rackets won\u2019t drag on until the culprits go the way of all flesh. Ravi Karunanayake was reported to be having a Yaaga\u201d sacrifice to deities for one week despite being a born and practicing Christian.\u00a0 However, this con man makes visits and poojas at places of other religious worship and even pays visits to Mahanayaka Theros when it is warranted by political expediency. This Yaga is said to have been arranged and organized by the notorious former minister Mervyn Silva by bringing in several exorcists from the South.\u00a0 Divine assistance comes to people when they are in real distress, subjected to oppression and being hit by hardships and calamities and not to rescue criminals, robbers, and swindlers <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By : A.A.M.NIZAM \u2013 MATARA Now let us revisit the 015 General Election process which was held in between the two Treasury Bond robberies.\u00a0 Within a few weeks of ousting the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, people were greatly dismayed and unable to bear with the loss this great leader busloads of people started arriving in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aamnizam"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99727"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99727\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}