News
Arrested and remanded:
Now, Bathiudeen has to face money laundering charges
By Norman Palihawadane and Hiran Seneviratne
Police yesterday commenced a special operation to arrest those who had been aiding and abetting former minister and SJB MP Rishad Bathiudeen to evade arrest, Police Media Spokesman DIG Ajith Rohana said.
Bathiudeen was remanded yesterday evening after being arrested in Dehiwala.
DIG Rohana said seven persons including a female doctor in whose house MP Bathiudeen had been hiding had been taken into custody. Her husband, a private tutor, had also been taken into custody, the DIG said.
Among other suspects was a foreign employment agent who had escorted the MP from one hiding place to another, the DIG said. The owner of the house from where the MP was arrested is still missing.
The female doctor and her husband were tenants in the apartment, where Bathiudeen was hiding.
“Some more persons are to be taken into custody,” the police spokesman said.
DIG Rohana said the arrest had been made around 3 am by a CID team who traced Bathiudeen to Ebenezer Place in Dehiwala.
He was taken into custody based on the Attorney General’s instructions to the police on Oct 13 to arrest him on charges of misappropriating public funds by using 222 SLTB buses to provide transport facilities to the displaced people in the Puttalam area to cast their votes in the 2019 Presidential Election.
MP Bathiudeen, Project director Mohamed Yaseen Samsudeen and project accountant Alagarathnam Manoranjan are accused of violating Article 82(1) of Presidential Elections Act, No. 15 of 1981 by misappropriating public funds.
The CID, on the direction of the Attorney General, requested the Colombo Fort Magistrate to issue an arrest warrant on MP Bathiudeen and the other two suspects on charges of criminal misappropriation of public funds and violation of election laws.
However, the Magistrate ruled that the Police could arrest the suspects without a warrant for violation of public property. Thereby, Attorney General Livera directed the Police to arrest the three suspects according to the law.
MP Bathiudeen had filed a writ application through a lawyer seeking an order from the Court of Appeal to prevent his arrest.
AG’s coordinating officer State Counsel Nishara Jayaratne told The Island that Attorney General Livera had advised the CID to place MP Bathiudeen under surveillance 24 hours before the issuing of the directive to arrest the former minister.
State Counsel Jayaratne said that the arrest of MP Bathiudeen was not something that had happened suddenly.
She said that 24 hours before the Attorney General’s advice pertaining to the arrest was provided in writing to the CID officers and the Acting IGP, the AG had summoned the CID officers and verbally instructed them to make preparation.
The Attorney General had advised the high-raking CID officers to carry out suitable surveillance on MP Bathiudeen and to stay alert regarding him, 24 hours before the advice was handed in writing, the AG’s coordinating office said.
She said that if the CID officers had followed the AG’s verbal advice of pre-preparation and had carried out proper surveillance activities, the suspect would not have been able to flee.
The Attorney General yesterday provided the Acting IGP with further advice in writing with regard to the criminal investigation against MP Bathiudeen and also met with the investigative officers of the CID.
It was revealed during that discussion that the CID is also carrying out investigations regarding over 10 more incidents related to MP Bathiudeen, State Counsel Jayaratne said.
The AG presented the Acting IGP with detailed information pertaining to those investigations and issued instructions to conduct further investigations under the offence of Money Laundering and also to appoint a special team of experienced and knowledgeable officers to carry out the investigations efficiently and thoroughly.
The AG also instructed to carry out criminal investigations against all individuals who had aided and abetted MP Bathiudeen to evade arrest and remain in hiding and to report to the court.
AG de Livera instructed to specially investigate into the individuals who held press conferences and made statements that the former minister was in hiding, she said.
The AG also called for reports on the progress in investigations within the next two weeks.
COPF final report on USD 2.5 mn cyber fraud recommends action against all responsible
The US$2.5 million loss incurred during Sri Lanka’s foreign debt repayment to Australia was a clear case of a cybercrime and theft, Committee on Public Finance (COPF) Chairman Dr. Harsha de Silva told Parliament yesterday.
Presenting the COPF final report on the cyber fraud, Dr. de Silva said the incident amounted to a serious financial crime and called for a comprehensive investigation, by law enforcement authorities, to identify and prosecute all those responsible.
The report revealed serious governance, procedural and operational failures that enabled the fraudulent transfer of public funds, while recommending sweeping reforms to strengthen cybersecurity, financial controls and public debt management systems.
According to the report, officials of the Treasury and the Central Bank bore responsibility for governance lapses that contributed to the failures. It also highlighted the fact that the Ministry of Finance was operating an outdated Microsoft Exchange Server after security support had ended, while basic safeguards, such as multi-factor authentication, had not been implemented.
The COPF said suspicious payment instructions linked to debt repayments involving India, the United Kingdom, Germany and Belgium had also been detected, preventing further losses. However, the US$ 2.5 million fraud materialised only in the repayment transaction involving Australia.
The report has noted that officials had failed to verify lender email domains, relied on unverified email communications and lacked adequate internal controls, allowing the fraud to continue for months.
Although the investigation uncovered system-wide weaknesses across several institutions, only four mid-level Finance Ministry officials had been suspended so far, the report said.
The COPF has recommended a special audit of the foreign debt repayment process, strengthened cybersecurity measures across state institutions, updated financial regulations and improvements to public debt management systems.
by Saman Indrajith
News
Opposition signs no-confidence motion against Justice Minister for dereliction of duty over Negombo Prison deaths
Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, together with Opposition MPs, yesterday signed a No-Confidence Motion (NCM) in Parliament against Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara.The move comes in response to the unrest at the Negombo Prison, where both prison officers and inmates were killed.
Opposition members said the Minister had failed to fulfill his responsibility and accountability regarding their safety.According to the Opposition group, the NCM seeks to hold the Minister directly accountable for lapses in ensuring protection within the prison system.
The Attorney General yesterday informed the Supreme Court that the government has decided to review the legality of agreements entered into by the previous administration to hand over the country’s electronic visa issuance operations to private companies.
Additional Solicitor General Viveka Siriwardena, appearing for the Attorney General, made the submission when the Supreme Court took up the fundamental rights petitions filed by former MPs President’s Counsel M.A. Sumanthiran, Patali Champika Ranawaka, and Rauff Hakeem, challenging the previous Cabinet’s decision to outsource the e-visa system.
The petitions were heard before a three-judge bench, comprising Chief Justice Preethi Padman Surasena and Justices Achala Wengappuli and Arjuna Obeyesekere.
The Additional Solicitor General informed court that the current Cabinet had appointed a subcommittee to examine the legality of the agreements with the private companies and requested time to report on its findings, stating that the review was still underway.
President’s Counsel Sumanthiran, appearing as one of the petitioners, told the court that although the present government had indicated its intention to cancel the transaction, the petitioners wished to proceed with the case.
He noted that members of the current Cabinet had been named as respondents in the petitions.The Supreme Court directed the petitioners to issue notice on the members of the current Cabinet, named as respondents, and fixed September 29 for further proceedings.
History takes centre stage as Mandhana, Harmanpreet fifties steer India
Spain leave it late to book semifinal date with France
Showers will occur in the Sabaragamuwa, Western and North-western provinces and in Galle, Matara, Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya districts
US$ 2.5 mn cyber heist exposes system failures
Opposition signs no-confidence motion against Justice Minister for dereliction of duty over Negombo Prison deaths
AG informs SC of e-visa agreement review
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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