Jaliya Wickramasuriya is corrupt, Canada says!

 Saturday, 18 January 2014 

The Canadian government has informed Sri Lanka that it cannot recognize the island’s high commissioner elect to that country, Jaliya Wickramasuriya, who is a cousin of president Mahinda Rajapkasa, reports say.

This diplomatic issue has arisen as a result of the US government’s exposing, to the Canadian authorities, the corrupt activities of Wickramasuriya during his tenure there as the Sri Lankan ambassador.
He has allegedly defrauded 350,000 US dollars when purchasing a building to house the Sri Lankan embassy at 3025, White Haven Street, Washingtn 20008. The 62-year-old, seven-bed room house was bought for 6,250,000 USD in January 2013, but the then ambassador had obtained cabinet approval for a sum of 6,600,000 USD. According to our sources, no evaluation of the building has been made prior to buying it.

Later, the external affairs ministry had complained to the president about this fraud, but acting in his usual self, the president had undercut senior civil servants and posted Wickramasuriya to Canada. The president had told minister G.L. Peiris not to hold any inquiry against his cousin.
During his tenure in the US, Wickramasuriya had neglected his ambassadorial duties and focused on promoting his personal tea business, said the sources. He had made no contribution towards the maintenance of good diplomatic relations between his country and the US. As a result, the US government is to submit a proposal against Sri Lanka at the Geneva session of the UN Human Rights Council in March. He had misused embassy property as well as its officers who get paid by the Sri Lankan government to carry out his tea business, added the sources.