Chairman City Finance writes land under his name
Thursday, 07 February 2013 
The head of City Finance, a financial company that operates under Central Bank monitoring, Diresh Hettiarachchi has written a land that was purchased for a housing project for the company in the Udayapura area in Battaramulla under his company, Invest Lanka. He has done so with approval from the Central Bank.
Industrial Finance Limited is now known as City Finance.
The Central Bank’s monitoring unit of financial institutions had taken over Industrial Finance Limited due to its inability to pay back depositors and other financial irregularities and the company is now carrying out business under the name of City Finance.
Diresh Hettiarachchi has become chairman of City Finance after purchasing shares worth Rs. 100 million. Hettiarachchi is the owner of the now bankrupt Wonderlite Soap Company and has been accused of various financial irregularities. The accusations were so serious that he was sacked from the Battaramulla Lions Club of which he was a member. He was once the Lion President, but the International Lions Club had removed him from the post following the allegations leveled against him.
Such a person was appointed as the head of City Finance due to his close link to the Central Bank Governor. Hettiarachchi after taking over the top post of the company by investing Rs. 100 million has now taken over a Rs. 220 million worth land that was purchased by the company with monies from depositors by writing the land in the name of his personal company, Invest Lanka.
The monitoring unit of non-financial institutions at Central Bank has thus far remained silent over the deal. The silence is mainly due to the Central Bank Governor’s pressure.
The danger in the transaction is that Hettiarachchi is trying to use the land taken under Invest Lanka to raise a personal loan.
Keheliya’s tele drama bribes continue
Thursday, 07 February 2013 Sources from Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC) say the Information and Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella takes between Rs. 1.2 million to Rs. 2 million to allocate times for tele dramas to be telecast on Rupavahini.
Many tele drama proedcuers are now moving out of SLRC since they cannot bear an additional amount of around Rs. 2 million after spending a lot of money producing the tele drama. Producers have said that many complaints lodged with the higher authorities have fallen on deaf ears.
The tele dramas that have been signed to be tele cast on Rupavahini have to pay this bribe. Keheliya’s brother telephones the respective tele drama producer a few weeks prior to the telecasting of the drama and directs that the monies be paid. In the event the producer fails to pay the monies, the tele drama will not be telecast on Rupavahini despite the signing of an agreement.
This bribe has to be taken to the Minister not by the producer or director of the tele drama, but by a pretty actress in the drama. SLRC sources say that there have been times when the amount of the bribe has been reduced due to sexual bribes.
