The Fort Magistrate Court has ordered that Arjuna Mahendran the now disgraced former Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka report to the CID before the 15th of February 2018 to help Police with their inquiries over the so-called ‘Bondgate’ matter.
Arjuna Mahendran is believed to be outside of Sri Lanka’s territorial waters and thought to be living in Singapore where he is a citizen and maintains a home.
Named along with Mahendran were Arjun Aloysious and Kasun Palisena who was the CEO of Perpetual Treasuries. Separately a court also ordered the continuing of a freeze on all businesses of the Perpetual Group thought to number 24 in total and a moratorium on the sale or disposal of any assets.
Within hours of the Court order Palisena released a statement of sorts carried by the Colombo Telegraph website claiming that state institutions had benefitted by at least USD 164 Million – or Rs 25 Billion – through the purchase and trading of bonds – discounting claims that the state institutions suffered losses.
Members of the public who contacted us commented that ‘finally there seems to be some action’, ‘the President has done well’ and so on including a sizable response commending the media for the exposure given to this matter.
Equally there were calls that indicated a deep unhappiness that Ranil Wickremesinghe appeared to be left out of the investigations for the moment. Many callers indicated that as the Minister in charge of the Central Bank he ought to be questioned over his inaction which permitted the Bondgate matter to continue its merry path.
