Cabraal released on Rs.10mn surety bail

By Lakmal Sooriyagoda
Former Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal was released on bail yesterday by the Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court over a private plaint filed for alleged financial irregularities that took place while he was serving as Central Bank Governor in 2014. 

Colombo Fort Magistrate Thilina Gamage ordered Cabraal to be released on a surety bail of Rs.10 million.
Cabraal was present before Court upon receipt of a notice, pursuant to a private plaint filed by Ven. Thiniyawala Palitha Thera in terms of section 136(1)(a) of the Code of Criminal Procedure Act. The Court had earlier issued an order preventing Cabraal from leaving the country.

The petitioner alleged that the Sri Lankan government, when Ajith Nivard Cabraal was functioning as the Central Bank Governor in 2014, had paid US$ 6.5 million through the Central Bank to an American businessman named Imaad Shah Zuberi, who was a CIA secret agent, to buy influence and fix its image in the US. 

The petitioner further said that US Court has held that out of the said given money to him on behalf of Sri Lankan taxpayers, US$ 5.6 million or 80 percent of it had been spent on himself and his wife. 

The petitioner said former Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal has paid US$ 6.5 million without prior approval from parliament, Cabinet of Ministers, violating Article 150 of the constitution.

The Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court has also issued an order preventing Cabraal from leaving the country over an incident where Cabraal was alleged to have taken measures to pay for a US$ 500 million international sovereign bond.