Wanted: Lanka’s three men on the run
Former Central Bank Governor, former Ambassador to Russia and former ambassador to the United States in the public dock
When he was appointed to the job not even two weeks of the Yahapalana Government of Sirisena and Wickremesinghe coming to power, his credentials to hold the topmost job as the Government’s Banker were impeccable.
Whilst Arjun and his colleague took the rap and were remanded, Arjun’s father-in-law had already fled to his adopted Singapore, letting his daughter’s husband alone to sweat out the heat of Welikada prison walls whilst he himself was safely ensconced in his swash Singapore apartment clicking his heels in cool comfort, rather than spend one single night with his son-in-law and share with him the visitation of Nemesis and the wages of sin.
They we re once the Thre e Musketeers of Lanka -- the Athos, Porthos and Aramis in Alexander Dumas’s classic novel -- appointed to high office by the Government and charged with the responsibility of ensuring the advancement of the nation’s interest both here and abroad; and to prevent abuse of position, corruption and injustice.
But historical fiction stops point blank when it comes to this Lankan trio who stand accused of transgressing every cardinal rule in the book. Today they stand in the dock of Lanka’s courts accused with the crime of using their honoured and influential positions to plunder the nation’s coffers; and, in the eye of the people placed in the pillory, convicted of the offence of fleeing justice; and, by their continued refusal to return to Lanka to face the music and use the opportunity proffered them by the judiciary to plead their innocence, the only verdict the sovereign court of the people can deliver at this juncture is one of “Guilty, as charged”.
Three Musketeers? Ha! They are nothing more than three common criminals, the scum of Lanka’s earth, ever to disgrace the hallowed pages of Lanka’s history, more fit to find their place in Harold Robbin’s torrid novels. Not as the Three Musketeers that Dumas wrote in his historical masterpiece that glorified honour and chivalry as the highest virtues man can aspire to, but rather the Three Villains of the piece in Lanka’s present doomed set up that man can stoop to.
And who exactly are these villains of the piece who prostituted their positions of power and influence and, exploiting the privileges of office, allegedly made a killing to advance their own fortunes and refuse to return to the country to answer charges as to their complicity in the gangbang of Lanka?
First let’s drag Arjuna Mahendran, the former Governor of the Central Bank from his Singapore hideaway, to the public dock to hear the charges read out to him. He stands accused of being the mastermind behind the Great Bank Robbery of the Century, done in broad daylight in an apparent show of transparency to meet the Yahapalana demands of his times but soon stood revealed naked in legal glare.
When he was appointed to the job not even two weeks of the Yahapalana Gove r nment of Sirisena and Wickremesinghe coming to power, his credentials to hold the topmost job as the Government’s Banker were impeccable.
On January 29, the new Government appointed Arjuna Mahendran as the Governor of the Central Bank to preside over the nation’s monetary affairs. His main qualifications for the top job were his previous positions as the Head of Investment Strategy – Asia at HSBC Private Bank and the CEO of Wealth Management Division at Emirates NBD Bank. His main promoter was none other than the new Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. His credentials were impeccable. And not even the Rajapaksa opposition could fault his appointment. As far as the public were concerned, incorruptible, honest-to-goodness Ranil Wickremesinghe’s strong recommendation was a sterling character certificate that placed Mahendran’s moral fibre beyond question. But then the storm broke.
Exactly on the 50th day of the 100day programme designed and dedicated to turn the Rajapaksa tide of corruption, serious doubts were cast whether the Yahapalana promise of good governance was writ on shifting sands; and whether the newly whitewashed pillars of transparency and accountability had been indelibly tarred to blacken the sheen and splendour of the new Yahapalana dawn. Was the promised new edifice to be nothing more than a sand castle on a torrid beach, vulnerable to all the raging waves of vice the previous regime was accused of setting in motion and which ultimately brought about its downfall?
On February 24, the Central Bank advertised the sale of Rs. 1 billion in 30-year government bonds at an indicative rate of 9.5 per cent. On February 26, the Finance Minister announced that the Government required an additional Rs 15 billion to fund urgent road construction projects. On February 27, the 30- year bond auction for Rs. 1 billion was opened with 36 offers received up to Rs. 20 billion. The Central Bank Governor was thus able to accept Rs. 10 billion.
The problem was this new figure, thousand percent more than the original figure, was accepted not in the 9.5 to 10.6 percent range but at the higher yielding rate of 12.5 percent. The scandal that broke out was that, while the other bidders for the original Rs 1 billion had been accepted at the lower rate of 9.5 percent, Perpetual Treasuries offer for Rs 5 billion at the higher rate of 12.5 percent had been accepted. And Perpetual Treasuries happened to be owned by the son- in- law of the newly appointed Governor of the Central Bank Arjuna Mahendran who, to all sense and purpose, was the master of ceremonies conducting the Rs 10 billion bond auction.
The question buzzing in the market on Monday, March 2, 2015 when the primary market opened was whether Arjuna Mahendran’s son- in- law’s company had benefitted from the bond issue through ‘ insider information’? It was a charge that Mahendren was to deny repeatedly, until a court found otherwise and held that there was a prima facie charge for him to answer?
If his legal liability deserved the benefit of doubt, his consequent actions upon being charged with the crime of defrauding the State of over five billion bucks, placed his morality and his conscience on the gallows of guilt to wing before the public’s opprobrium.
His son- in- law Arjun Aloysius and colleague Palisena were arrested in February 2018 after the CID submitted their ‘ B’ report, which made Arjun Aloysius liable for ‘ conspiring’ to commit the two offences of Criminal Breach of Trust and Criminal Misappropriation with Arjuna Mahendran at the bond auction on February 27, 2015 under Section 113(a), 386, 39 and 391 of the Penal Code and the Section 5( 1) of the Public Property Act.
Whilst Arjun and his colleague took the rap and were remanded, Arjun’s father- in- law had already fled to his adopted Singapore, letting his daughter’s husband alone to sweat out the heat of Welikada prison walls whilst he himself was safely ensconced in his swash Singapore apartment clicking his heels in cool comfort, rather than spend one single night with his son- inlaw and share with him the visitation of Nemesis and the wages of sin.
After spending over ten months in remand prison, son- in- law Arjun of Perpetual Treasuries which as the indictment read had engaged in illegal ‘ insider dealing’ by obtaining price- sensitive inside information, which is deemed to be a punishable and prohibited conduct under Section 56 ( 1) of the Registered Stocks and Securities Ordinance and the Code of Conduct for Primary Dealers by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, was finally set free on bail by the Colombo Chief Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne.
The reason the magistrate gave was that since there was no indication of when the chief suspect of the case, former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran, would be apprehended, it was not acceptable for Aloysius and Palisena to be kept in remand any longer.
Fair enough. Prima Facie. But is it necessary for Arjuna Mahendran to be apprehended for the trial to proceed against the accused? Merely because Mahendran is a Singapore citizen, why cannot he be tried in absentia? Or is it the legal view that any citizen of another country can commit blue murder here and flee to his country and thus escape Lankan justice? Why can’t any person who commits a crime in Lanka be tried in absentia?
That brings us to bring, however reluctant he maybe, Udayanga Weeratunga from his long exile to the dock to answer the charges levelled against him.
Fo r mer president Mahinda Rajapaksa appointed his first cousin Udayanga Weeratunga as the ambassador to Russia and Ukraine. He had been evading an arrest warrant issued on October 20, 2016 by a Colombo Magistrate in relation to investigations pertaining to alleged embezzlement of public funds to the tune of US$ 7.833 million with regard to procurement of MiG aircraft and money laundering.
Mid last year, his lawyers informed Colombo Fort Magistrate’s courts that he was willing to appear before the Court to face charges against him in connection with the MiG aircraft deal.
He did not turn up but the case against him proceeded nevertheless. Last week on January 15, Attorney- atlaw Udara Karunatilleke, representing the Attorney General’s Department, told the Acting Fort Magistrate that, in addition to Udayanga Weeratunga alleged involvement in the MiG deal, his wife, brother- in- law and mother- inlaw had received large sums of money from overseas. He told court that of the money received, Rs 72 mn, had been transferred from Colombo to Dubai.
The question is if it can be done in Udayanga’s case why the same cannot be done in Mahendren’s case.
At the moment the Sri Lankan’s request to Singapore is simply based on an allegation and thus Singapore’s unwillingness to return its citizen, the bond scam boss Mahendren to Lanka. But a trial in absentia and if he is convicted of the charges pressed again him, it will, no doubt, strengthen the Government’s hand to invite him as guest of the government to spend a vacation at the Welikada jail. The same happened in the case of Namal Rajapaksa’s alleged 500 million dollar account in a Dubai bank. Considering the strict secrecy maintained by the Middle East’s Switzerland, the judge refused to order the bank to reveal its secrets and stated he would only consider the request to lift the veil of secrecy if the Sri Lankan authorities could show evidence of a conviction in a Lankan court.
The third man on the run is another relation of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa who appointed Jaliya Wi c k r a m a s u r i ya as Lankan Ambassador to the United States. Wickramasuriya was arrested in late 2016 by the Financial Crimes Investigation Division over misusing state funds during his tenure in Washington. He was arrested for accepting a US$ 245,000 commission while serving as the Sri Lankan Ambassador to the US and for alleged embezzlement of funds to the tune of US$ 322,027.35 during his tenure.
He was remanded on the same charges and was later released on bail.
Upon his release, Wickramasuriya fled the country and nobody was aware of his whereabouts. The Colombo Fort Magistrate has issued open warrants for his arrest since he failed to appear in the court when the case was taken up for hearing.
The case summary against him in the US Federal Court is now in the public domain after the US court unsealed his indictment last month. As per the documents, Wickramasuriya is charged on five counts including fraud by wire, radio or television, laundering of monetary instruments, fraud and misuse of data permits and making false statements in immigration application.
He claims diplomatic immunity but he appears to have scored his own goal when in his bid to apply for a Green Card, it is said that he renounced his immunity in the application form he signed. As reported in the Daily Mirror two weeks ago, Jaliya Wickramasuriya submitted to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services agency a “Form I-508”, which is a waiver of rights, privileges, exemptions and immunities. In this form, signed and dated by Wickramasuriya on March 25, 2014, he has stated that he had been employed as a Sri Lankan Government official at the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Washington D.C.
‘Accordingly, I seek to acquire or retain the status of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence and hereby waive all rights, privileges, exemptions, and immunities that would otherwise accrue to me under any law or executive order by reason of such occupational status,’ Wickramasuriya has stated as thus in the Form I-508 submitted to US authorities.
On Friday Police Spokesman SP Ruwan Gunasekara said the police have identified 24 major drug smugglers who had left the country and action would be taken to confiscate their assets. If so why is similar action not even contemplated against the top three on the run?
Namely, the ex- Governor of the Central Bank and the two former ambassadors to the United States and Russia respectively who, by their refusal to appear before the Lankan Courts and defend their innocence, have established a prima facie acknowledgement of their guilt.