Krrish denies making any pay-offs

One of Sri Lanka’s biggest mixed development projects on Thursday strenuously denied allegations of wrongdoing even as more details emerged this week of one of the country’s worst financial scandals.

The India-based Krrish Group, involved in a US$650 million project which includes a hotel, apartments and two towers linked to the other similar to the Petronas Towers in Malaysia, told the Business Times (BT):

“The approval to the project has been done on merit and is in the interest of the development of Sri Lanka. The allegations of pay-offs or bribes are not true,” company CEO R.P. Gupta said responding to queries sent by the BT by email to the company.Allegations swirling in Colombo together with reliable information pieced together by the BT revealed that the top official holding positions in the public and private sector who is al- leged to have received a Rs. 400 million pay-off to ‘support’ the project has implicated many other high-ranking personalities including a politician and another highly-placed public official with links to the private sector.

The Finance Ministry and the CID were separately probing the alleged fraud with CID sleuths also following up on the possibility that missing files on accounts from Colombo’s Krrish’s office was done with the connivance of some highly-placed company officials.

“A senior official still holding a top position in the government who is involved in the scandal will tender his resignation if the case turns towards him in the next couple of weeks,” a Finance Ministry source said.

Earlier reports said that some company officials had ‘spilled the beans’ of the pay-offs resulting in an investigation being ordered by the Government.

On Wednesday, Investment Promotion Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said the company has to make a final lease premium payment by tomorrow, July 15 otherwise it would lose its ‘Strategic Development Project’ status in which several tax concessions are granted. However any extension of the deadline would be considered, he said. Mr. Gupta said the balance payment of about Rs. 700 million (around 14 per cent of the total lease premium) would be made soon with the due interest as per the agreed terms of payment.

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