News
Probes and probity
Saturday 9th October, 2021
The Opposition may have expected the government to defend Thirukumar Nadesan and his wife Nirupama Rajapaksa openly over the Pandora Papers revelations and get into a bigger political mess in the process. But the latter chose to act intelligently, for once. It ordered a probe—not out of any genuine desire to ascertain the truth and institute legal action against anyone but in what appears to be a bid to deflect criticism.
An otherwise lethargic Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) has swung into action. Asked by this newspaper what action it would take in respect of the Pandora Papers allegations against Nirupama and her husband, the CIABOC said it could act only if a complaint was lodged. In fact, it is not in a position to initiate an inquiry or an investigation of its own volition thanks to the draconian 20th Amendment, which stripped it of some vital powers. No one had made a complaint by that time. Curiously, a presidential order galvanised the CIABOC into action. It summoned Nadesan and recorded a statement yesterday.
Interestingly, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is a member of the ruling family, which its political rivals are all out to implicate in the questionable offshore financial transactions of Nadesan. He has also asked the CIABOC to submit a report to him within one month!
It would have been much better if the CIABOC had been able to probe the Pandora Papers disclosure on its own. All Executive Presidents have not cared to rise above partisan politics and act impartially, and therefore presidential directives are not devoid of politics.
Not all shell company owners are engaged in criminal activities; but most of them are responsible for tax evasion, which needs to be investigated separately. Most of those involved in offshore financial transactions have caused huge losses to their home countries by parking their money overseas illegally. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which carried out the Pandora Papers investigation, has said the losses at issue range from USD 5.6 trillion to USD 32 trillion. The International Monetary Fund is of the view that the losses that tax havens cause to many countries around the world could be as high as USD 600 billion a year. The existence of the offshore world aggravates global poverty and inequalities because it deprives the developing nations of some of their tax revenue, as we pointed out in a previous comment. Therefore, besides the ongoing CIABOC probe, there must be a multi-agency investigation into the ICIJ revelations about Sri Lankans, like the one India has ordered.
Offshore transactions are extremely complex processes, and if the CIABOC is capable of conducting a thorough probe into the allegations against Nadesan and submit a report thereon to the President within one month, there is no reason why it should take years to finish other probes that do not involve such complex operations.
If the CIABOC is to carry out its duties and functions free from political influence, it should be made independent of the Executive President as well. It may be recalled that all political parties, represented in Parliament, sank their differences and deprived the national anti-graft commission of the power to inquire into allegations of bribery or corruption sua sponte, in 1994. This power was restored by the 19th Amendment to the Constitution (2015), which made it ‘lawful for the Commission … to inquire into, or investigate an allegation of bribery or corruption, whether on its own motion or on a written complaint made to it.’ There were flaws in the 19th Amendment that had to be rectified, but the salutary provisions like the aforesaid one should have been retained. The 20th Amendment, which was crafted to strengthen the executive presidency, stripped the CIABOC of that power again. Otherwise, there would have been no need for the President to order the CIABOC to initiate an investigation into the ICIJ findings anent Sri Lanka, and, above all, the probe would have been more acceptable to the public.
A programme to provide educational equipment to selected university students was held on Thursday (18) morning at the Head Office of the President’s Fund.
During the event, laptop computers were distributed to 14 students selected from applications received through Divisional Secretariat offices across the island. The President’s Fund has allocated Rs. 5.8 million for this initiative.
Accordingly, the President’s Fund has provided educational equipment to approximately 30 university students in 2025 and 2026. More than Rs. 9.8 million has been spent on this programme to date.
The event was attended by Secretary to the President’s Fund and Senior Additional Secretary to the President, Roshan Gamage, along with senior officials of the President’s Fund, parents, and other invitees.
(PMD)
Amidst ongoing accusations that the theft of USD 2.5 mn (nearly 1 bn Rupees) from the Treasury hadn’t been properly investigated, The Island learns that the relevant payments had been made to the actual creditor on the instructions of the Finance Ministry.
Confirming the inquiries made by us, authoritative sources said that payments had been made to several accounts through the US banks. Earlier, Sri Lanka released funds to fake foreign accounts in spite of warnings regarding the suspicions about the process.
The funds were part of a bilateral debt repayment to Australia with a settlement due in September 2025. The payment was part of a $ 22.9 million debt settlement.
The lapses occurred in the wake of far reaching changes regarding the debt management functions. In terms of a particular condition of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Sri Lanka’s debt management functions that had been previously handled by the Central Bank were transferred to a new institution established under the General Treasury—the Public Debt Management Office (PDMO).
Sources said that regardless of the loss of USD 2.5 mn, Sri Lanka couldn’t have defaulted and therefore payments had been made.
Sources who closely followed the issue said that the government owed an explanation and public apology regarding the loss of USD 2.5 mn and how fresh payments were made.
Sources said that the USD 2.5 mn paid to fake accounts had been lost and could never be traced. CoPF Chairman Dr. Harsha de Silva has said that the NPP government has told the IMF that stolen USD 2.5 mn would be recovered from the public by introducing an amendment to the budget.
By Shamindra Ferdinando
The Court of Appeal yesterday (18) postponed until June 25 the hearing of a petition filed by former Minister Nalin Fernando seeking the dismissal of an indictment brought against him by the Attorney General in connection with the controversial ‘Carrom Boards’ case.
The petition was taken up before a bench comprising Justices P. Kumararatnam and Pradeep Hettiarachchi.
Appearing for the petitioner, President’s Counsel Ali Sabry, instructed by Attorney-at-Law Ramzi Bacha, informed court that Fernando had already been convicted and sentenced to 30 years rigorous imprisonment in a case instituted by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) arising from the same incident.
Counsel argued that the Attorney General had subsequently filed a separate case based on the same set of charges and maintained that subjecting an accused person to a second prosecution for the same offence was contrary to law.
He submitted that preliminary objections on the issue had been raised before the Colombo High Court but were dismissed by the trial judge.
The petitioner has therefore sought a declaration from the Court of Appeal that the indictment filed by the Attorney General is unlawful and requested that the charges be set aside.
The court directed that the matter be called again on June 25, when the Attorney General is expected to present submissions on the petition.
The case stems from allegations that during the 2015 presidential election campaign, 14,000 carrom boards and 11,000 checkers boards were imported and distributed through Lanka Sathosa outlets for allocation to political offices of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, resulting in an estimated loss of Rs. 39 million to the State.
Based on those allegations, the Attorney General has instituted proceedings against Fernando before the Colombo High Court under the Public Property Act.
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