Exclusive: Why Rajapaksa Opened Flood Gates For Revenue Fraudsters And Restriction On Transfer Of Vehicle Permits Removed
“I write further to the instruction of the informant who claimed to have provided the credible information of a revenue fraud in which two companies namely LOLC and LB Finance are directly involved. This particular information has been given to the Deputy Director Mr. G.H.G.A.Lankadeva (Central Valuation), concerning importation of a large number of ‘permit cars’ by fraudulent means where the permits have been bought outright by the aforesaid companies from the recipients of permits, including Power of Attorney and MTA6, making those who have bought permits de factoowners of the vehicles, an act which is prohibited under the law” Public Interest Litigator Nagananda Kodituwakku has written to Director General of Customs Neville Gunawardana.
PB Jayasundara
The three year restriction that was in place on transfer of duty free vehicles imported by public servants has been lifted with immediate effect by the Finance Ministry.
Confidential government documents obtained by Colombo Telegraphshows the reason behind the move. A government official, who declined to be identified, confirmed the documents were authentic. The Colombo Telegraph has been unable to reach Nagananda Kodituwakku for comment.
Board of directors of the two companies involved with this massive revenue fraud are highly influential and one such person is Dhammika Perera, the former Chairman/ Director-General of the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI). He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Strategic Enterprises Management Agency (SEMA) and the Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB). Another is Justice Suresh Chandra who served as the Deputy Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to United Nations in New York in 2009. President Mahinda Rajapaksa appointed Justice Suresh Chandra as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka in June 2010 and retired from that position in July 2012. He still serves as a Judge of the Supreme Court in Fiji since his appointment in Fiji in 2011.
Click here for Board of directors – LOLC
Click here for Board of directors - LB Finance
Public Interest Litigator Nagananda Kodituwakku wrote; “However, it is now learnt (or my client has reliably been informed) that these two cases would not be proceeded amidst strong opposition raised against the enforcement of law on the revenue fraudsters concerned. We wish to inform you that regardless of any unlawful directions you may be getting apparently from the ST, you are, being the General Superintendent of all matters relating to Customs, under duty to enforce the revenue protection provisions of the Custom Ordinance appropriately and our client’s interests in the instant case.”
Treasury Secretary repeatedly complaints about the lack of funds to maintain the essential services like education, health, transport and also to provide a decent salary for services funded by the government. Yet what he practices is completely opposite of what he preaches and surely against the public interest, particularly when it comes to the collection and protection of government revenue.
