Lanka Prez appoints panel to probe bond scam

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Friday appointed a high-level presidential commission of inquiry to probe an alleged insider trading scam involving the country’s Central Bank which has caused a rift in his unity government.

The panel was appointed after Tuesday’s parliamentary debate on the issue and has been tasked to come out with the findings within 3 months.

Sirisena has appointed two sitting Supreme Court judges and a retired Auditor General to probe the bond scam which has caused fissures in the current government headed by him and his Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, the President’s office said.

Former Governor of Central Bank Arjuna Mahendran and his son in law connected with a primary dealer firm are accused of benfitting from insider information during two issues of bonds in February 2015 and March 2016.

Sirisena on Wednesday publicly slammed an effort by the Wickremesinghe faction of the government to refer the findings of the parliament’s Committee of Public Enterprises (COPE) to the police and for further civil action.

Sirisena said he was not in agreement with a civil case and wanted criminal charges pursued on the issue.

Mahendran was Wickremesinghe’s nominee for the bank’s boss.

After his alleged involvement in wrong doings, Sirisena did not extend Mahendran’s term and appointed a successor. The analysts say the bond issue has triggered a widening rift in the unity of the government.