Businessman remanded for misappropriation

A businessman, who had allegedly misappropriated Rs.191,056 million belonging to Lanka Electricity Company (Private) Limited (LECO), was remanded till February 15 by the Colombo Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

The CID alleged that the suspect, Nandana Wickramasinghe, had allegedly transacted business with LECO in purchasing houses and properties on behalf of them. The CID officer told Court that the suspect had been involved in the whole transaction from the beginning to end and thereby misappropriated funds belonging to the company. The CID revealed that they had proof that the accused was involved in embezzling money belonging to LECO and that he had also tried to cover his tracks by interfering with their case.

Counsel Wasantha Batagoda appearing on behalf of the suspect informed Court that his client was a businessman but not an employee of LECO. He said that the allegations made by the CID that his client had tried to mislead the CID were baseless. He further argued that his client had given a statement to the Bribery Commission regarding the transaction pertaining to LECO in purchasing a house, property involving 43 perches of land. He moved court to release his client on bail.