USD 250 million X-Press Pearl bribe deposited at bank in Bahamas not UK

Mannapperuma contradicts Wijeyadasa

By Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera  

Parliamentarian Ajith Mannapperuma said yesterday he had informed Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe that one Chamara Gunasekara living in the UK had received USD 250 million to a bank account in the Bahamas Island in West Indies, whereas the Minister has claimed that the money has been received to an account in an UK bank.  

The MP who is the Chairman of the Sectoral Oversight Committee on Environment, Natural Resources told Parliament that the Justice Minister used his information to suppress the whole issue of the X-Press Pearl disaster.    MP Mannapperuma said he gave the information to the Minister as he was confident that though the information was not verified information,   The MP said that even after a month the Justice Minister has been unable to make a statement whether the information on the alleged bribe was right or wrong.