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Johnston indicted by Bribery Commission

10 Aug 2022

  • Case pertains to causing Rs. 8.4 mn loss by employing Sathosa workers in 2012 Election campaigns
BY Buddhika Samaraweera Three accused parties including former Minister and incumbent Government MP Johnston Fernando were served indictments by the Colombo High Court for allegedly causing a loss to the Government by employing Co-operative Wholesale Establishment (CWE) (Lanka Sathosa) employees for election campaigns in 2012, when Fernando was the Minister of Co-operative Services and Internal Trade. When the relevant case filed by the Commission to Investigate into Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) was taken up yesterday (9) before Colombo High Court Judge Navaratne Marasinghe, indictments were served to Fernando, former CWE Chairman Eraj Fernando, and former CWE Director Kaja Mohideen Mohamed Sakeer. After serving the indictments to the accused parties, the judge ordered them to be released on cash bails of Rs. 50,000 each and three surety bonds of Rs. 2 million each (Rs. 1 million by one guarantor and another Rs. 1 million by another guarantor). Judge Marasinghe, who issued an order prohibiting the accused from travelling abroad, directed them to hand over their passports to the court, and to report to the investigation unit of the CIABOC on the last Sunday of every month. Following the imposition of the bail conditions, Judge Marasinghe announced that the relevant case against Fernando and the other suspects would be called for a pre-trial conference on 13 September. The CIABOC, on 30 May, filed indictments in the court against the said three accused for allegedly committing fraud while Fernando was the Co-operative Services and Internal Trade Minister in 2012. They are accused of causing a loss of Rs. 8.4 million to the Government by employing CWE employees for election work in 2012. The CIABOC had earlier filed five cases against these suspects in the Colombo Magistrate's Court, and the magistrate had acquitted the suspects on the basis of the initial objections raised by the accused parties, stating that the three Commissioners of the CIABOC had not signed the charges. Accordingly, the CIABOC filed fresh indictments against the suspects under five cases in the Colombo High Court. The CIABOC had also submitted to the court a list of 45 witnesses and nine evidence documents.  


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