USD 6.5 mn payment to Zuberi: Cabraal says done on written instructions of govt.

Former Governor of the Central Bank, Ajith Nivard Cabraal, has said that payments were made to a person named Imaad Zuberi in 2014 on the official written instructions of the government.

Cabraal has issued the following statement in response to JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s claim that a payment of USD 6.5 mn was made by Ajith Nivard Cabraal to a ‘US CIA agent’ named Imaad Zuberi: As the banker to the Government, the payments made by the Central Bank, on behalf of the Government, in 2014, have been made on the official written instructions of the Government, and not on the wishes of a single person. Such payments included those made to the said Imaad Zuberi and his organisations that were engaged by the Government in respect of communication programmes in the USA.

In that regard, it must be stated that all payments, on behalf of the Government, had been made based on the official written instructions and approval of the relevant Government authorities. Further, the respective payment protocols and procedures had been followed by the Central Bank in the normal course of business when making these payments. Therefore, it can be confirmed that there has been no procedural, or other violation, by the Central Bank in making the payments totalling USD 6.5 million to Zuberi and his organisations, on behalf of the Government.

Nevertheless, as it is now observed, there are certain groups of politically motivated persons, who had been alleging that these payments have been made by me, personally, in a fraudulent manner, thereby causing a loss to the country.

In that regard, it must be stated that these same groups had these transactions investigated, in detail, for five years, from 2015 to 2019, and after doing so, it had not been possible to point out any lapses, or violations, of any law, on my part. As a result, no action was instituted against me by any law enforcement authority, during that period of five years.

Nevertheless, these politically motivated groups have once again begun to hurl false allegations against me in order to tarnish my reputation and provoke public hatred upon me. While vehemently denying those allegations, I must state that I will respond to these despicable actions through the legal process and also institute action against the perpetrators of these falsehoods, at the appropriate time, in order to hold them accountable for their abusive actions.”