Sri Lankan Airlines Rs 338 Million Fraud: In Flight Duty Free ‘Day Light Robbery’ Still Continues
April 14, 2015
The Board of Inquiry into the misappropriations of Sri Lankan Airlines findings highlights a massive figure of US $ 865,398 that was written off by Sri Lankan Airlines due to a retrospective amended change made to the original contract signed between the national carrier and Phoenix Duty Free Services. However Colombo Telegraph reliably learns that this particular finding led the airline to lose a further monumental amount of US $ 2,596,198 over the subsequent next two years of 2013/2014 & 2014/2015.
Raju Chandiram
The Board of Inquiries’ findings revealed that the former CEO Kapila Chandrasena, the former Chief Marketing Officer G.T. Jayaseeelan and Head of Finance Yasantha Dissanyake had submitted a board paper on the 26th September 2013 seeking the airline’s Board of Directors to retrospectively amend the agreement seeking approval to write off a figure of US $ 865,398.
This amendment which was approved and changed by the former Board of Directors for the financial year 2012/2013 has now proved be a suicidal decision the former Board of Directors of the airline made as it affected the bottom line of the airline for the next two completed financial years of 2013/2014 & 2014/2015.
The report’s highlighted loss of US $ 865,398 per annum was only for the initial contractual year ending 2012/2013.
This meant that with the guaranteed payment terms been defined on an ascending ‘year on year’ that amendment realistically affected the struggling airline a minimum of US $ 2,595,198, which is three times the said written off figure which should include the now completed financial years of 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 as well.
With the now commenced 4th operational year of this contract in effect as of 01/04/2015, the airline is set to lose out at least another US $ 2 million in the next two years when the contract eventually expires.
