The whereabouts of 143 buses owned by the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) still remain unknown, despite the issue being raised in January. The Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) revealed in January, yet another instance of massive financial fraud, which resulted in the SLTB suffering a billion-rupee loss. COPE Chairman JVP MP Sunil Handunnetti revealed that a total of 143 SLTB buses remained missing after it had been handed over to the Wesco company for repairs. Even though Handunnetti’s COPE report highlighted the incident, the report had failed to mention the exact dates and the amount in losses the SLTB incurred as a result of the buses going missing. The report further stated that former SLTB Chairman Ramal Siriwardena had told COPE that the buses had not been “returned” and so a case had been filed against Wesco. In response to the former Chairman’s statement, COPE had requested the board to submit a comprehensive report to the committee, mentioning the period of time the buses had been handed over to Wesco for repairs. The COPE stated that it had received the requested letter from the Secretary to the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation bearing No. MT/07/06/06/08 and dated 11 October 2017. The letter was not attached to the COPE report. When contacted, the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, including its Additional Secretary R.M.S.P Ratnayake, told The Sunday Morning that most of the authorities were not aware of the incident. The Sunday Morning also contacted former SLTB Chairman Siriwardene as he was summoned before the COPE. He said the incident had taken place in or around 2002 and until the date he resigned from his post of Chairman of SLTB, the buses had not been returned. The series of events SLTB Legal Officer Ruchirani Jayakody told The Sunday Morning that the transaction had taken place in 2002 and the SLTB had lodged a complaint with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in 2007. However, after the case was filed by the SLTB, the CID had filed a case against Wesco Chairman Ravi Wettasinghe in the High Court of Colombo. “The Attorney General’s Department is currently handling the case,” Jayakody said. Wettasinghe had strong connections within previous United National Party (UNP) regimes. In 1993, Wettasinghe acquired the Ceylon Transport Board’s (CTB) Werahera, Kahagolla, and Keppetipola workshops for Rs. 25 million and formed two companies named Wesco and Kesco. The following year, with the defeat of the UNP, he fled the country, leaving the incoming Government to settle millions of rupees in dues to workers. However, in 2015, it was reported that he was arrested by the CID at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), while he was attempting to leave the country, over several charges against him. Wettasinghe, who was in remand, was produced in court on charges of allegedly misappropriating Rs. 75 million when purchasing 143 buses for the SLTB. In April, the High Court of Colombo released Wettasinghe on a surety bail of Rs. 100,000 and two other sureties of Rs. 1 million each. When contacted, former Transport Minister Kumara Welgama said the incident had occurred under the UNP Government, and nothing had been done during his tenure as Minister to recover the loss. However, less information is known by officials at the Ministry of Transport regarding the incident in 2002. However, SLTB Deputy Chairman Nihal Perera stated in 2004 that there had been massive losses as a result of the pilferage of machinery and spare parts, and that 143 buses were missing. A running bus fleet of about 7,000 in 1993 had drastically dropped to about 4,000. According to Perera, a committee had been appointed to probe into the corruption and fraud. However, in April this year, it was reported that the High Court of Colombo acquitted Wettasinghe over a case filed against him in 2006 for allegedly not returning Rs. 10 million to an individual after providing written confirmation of the sale of a property in the Nawala area. The CID had been called in to investigate a complaint made by one Anton Mallawarachchi in September 2005 with regard to the sale of a property where he alleged that he was cheated by Wettasinghe. Wettasinghe was subsequently arrested and remanded for 76 days. Thereafter, the Attorney General had indicted him in the High Court in Colombo over the loss caused by the alleged transaction, with the case being heard initially in the absence of the accused, who was abroad at the time, but later returned to face trial. Attempts to contact Transport and Civil Aviation Minister Arjuna Ranatunga and Deputy Minister Ashok Abeysinghe failed; Ministry Secretary L.P. Jayampathy said he was currently in Manila, Philippines attending a conference. (CID is yet to provide the information)