Bribery Commission Slams Ranil’s Statement as False

COLOMBO (News 1st): The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) informed the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court today that a recent public statement made by former President Ranil Wickremesinghe regarding the case involving MP Chamara Sampath Dassanayake was entirely false.

The case concerns Dassanayake’s tenure as Chief Minister of Uva Province, during which he allegedly withdrew funds from six fixed deposit accounts held by a state bank on behalf of the Provincial Council. 

The premature withdrawal, which occurred before the deposits matured, is said to have caused a loss of Rs. 17.3 million to the government.

Detectives revealed that Wickremesinghe had made the said statement to the media as the request of Dassanayake’s wife, and he has confirmed it to the commission in a statement on the 28th of April.

Detectives informed the court that although a circular was issued on November 22, 2011, authorizing the withdrawal of fixed deposits from the relevant state bank for use in development projects, the suspect had withdrawn the funds nine months prior to the issuance of that circular. 

They further requested that the suspect’s bail be revoked, stating that his continued release could interfere with the integrity of the ongoing investigation.