3 June 2020 07:30 pm Views - 7375
*Mahendran was saved from interpol by Yahapalana Government
The prime suspect of the Central Bank bond scam case Arjuna Mahendran has changed his name and living in Singapore safely and happily, former President Maithripala Sirisena claimed today.
He added that when Interpol was on the verge of arresting Mahendran in March 2019 after issuing a red notice for the biggest financial fraud in history of Sri Lanka involving the Central Bank bond issue, a few people highly influential and powerful in the Yahapalana Government had informed the Interpol that the allegations against Mahendran were politically motivated and therefore he must not be arrested and deported.
In a shocking exposure today at the SLFP party office, former President Sirisena told media that he was revealing this information for the first time because people of this country should know about it.
“The trouble between me and the Yahapalana Government started with the Central Bank bond scam. If I did not appoint a Presidential Commission, if I did not attempt to get to the bottom of the fraud and swept it under the carpet, there would not have been any animosity between me and the leaders of the Yahapalana Government,” Mr. Sirisena said.
“The Sri Lankan Government prepared a comprehensive report that consisted of all evidence obtained from the Presidential Commission, the CID, the Attorney General’s Department and other law enforcement agencies and individuals against Arjuna Mahendran.
All of them were concrete evidence against him and more than enough to arrest and deport him. Based on that report, the Interpol issued a red notice on Mahendran and was about to deport him. But the Interpol decided against deporting him after the false report sent by Yahapalana Government hierarchy saying that he was a political victim,” the former President said.
When insisted by the media to disclose the names of those who thwarted the deportation of Mahendran, Mr. Sirisena said he could not specifically reveal their names because all Sri Lankans knew who they are.
“Should I tell you who hand-picked Mahendran as the Governor of Central Bank in 2015 despite vehement protests by me and cabinet members? Should I tell you who took over the Central Bank from the Finance Ministry to a different Ministry? Should I tell you who shared among themselves the ill lucre running to billion of rupees raised with the illegal selling and buying of bonds with the inside information?, Mr. Sirisena asked.
He said those in the Yahapalana Government who were involved in the bond scam got frightened that if Mahendran was brought back and produced in the courts he would expose all those involved in the bond scam, how it happened and who shared the ill gotten money.
Mr. Sirisena vowed that the SLFP would pursue this matter and bring all the criminals involved in the bond scam under a strong government formed under President Gotabaya Rajapaksa after the next election.
“We will not give up our efforts to do justice. We are confident that under the next government led by President Rajapaksa, we would be able to bring back Mahendran from Singapore or from wherever and expose all the wrongdoers involved in the Central Bank bond scam,” he stressed. (Sandun A Jayasekera)