Minister’s brother in arecanut racket!
Sep 25, 2015
The brother of a minister in the present government, who is connected to international trade, is the latest fraudster to join the arecanuts racket, in which Indonesian arecanuts are sent to India under the India-Lanka free trade agreement on the pretext of a value added product, ‘Ravaya’ reports.
Previously, the kingpin of that racket was Shashidaran Muralitharan, a closest friend of the minister in question and also the brother of former cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan. Finance minister Ravi Karunanayake recently told parliament about Shashidaran’s involvement in the arecanuts racket.
Sep 25, 2015
Based on the statement given to the CID by Sajin Vaas Gunawardena, former MP and confidential financial advisor to Mahinda Rajapaksa, chairman of Sri Lanka’s best private enterprise John Keells Holdings (JKH) Susantha Ratnayake is due to be summoned to the FCID, say reliable sources.
Ratnayake is to be thus summoned to obtain a statement with regard to the casino license given to his group.
This license had previously been given to wealthy businessman Dhammika Perera, and it was Sajin Vaas who had acted as the broker when JKH bought it. From this deal, he had obtained big commissions from both Perera and Ratnayake, and according to what he has told the CID, he has given Mahinda Rajapaksa a considerable sum out of the commissions he had received.
We had previously reported that Sajin Vaas had made a confession to the FCID. But, it should be the CID. Based on that statement, the FCID is conducting further investigations.
Sajin Vaas has told the CID everything, from the time he first got to know Rajapaksa in 2002 through wealthy businessman Ravi Wijeratne, to late 2014. Now, all those who had struck deals and played out games with him are dumbstruck due to his confession. The government has decided to use Sajin Vaas as a witness of the state against all of them.
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