A forensic audit into the misappropriated funds of Olympic House during a 10-year span from 2014 will commence tomorrow (26), according to National Olympic Committee (NOC) President Suresh Subramaniam.
Subramaniam said that a reputed private firm with international standing had been entrusted with the task after being selected by the NOC’s Independent Audit Committee helmed by a Chartered Accountant by profession, who was also the Chairperson of the Audit Committee of the United Nations.
According to Subramaniam, the forensic audit of the NOC has been handed over to a private firm as per the wishes of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which is determined to see all officials with tainted images removed from Olympic House.
“It was the desire of the IOC to see the forensic audit of the NOC being carried out by a private company,” Subramaniam said. “Due to that reason, the Independent Audit Committee chose a renowned private firm to handle this task and it will report back to the NOC.”
He noted that the forensic audit would take close to a two-month period or even longer as a 10-year period had to be covered as per the guidelines issued by the IOC.
Ahead of the forensic audit due to get underway tomorrow, at least three officials from the NOC, namely Finance Manager Gayani Senevirathne, General Manager Manoj Peiris, and Deputy Manager Kaushalya Danthanarayana had quit their posts, the NOC President added.
When asked whether the activities of the NOC would face an obstacle over the freezing of its official account by a leading State-owned bank, the long-serving NOC head dismissed this possibility.
He said that the NOC had always dealt with the bank concerned as per the provisions of its own Constitution.
He also noted that the bank in question had no legal authority to freeze the NOC account.
The NOC currently functions sans its Secretary General Maxwell de Silva, who was imposed with a five-year suspension based on a recommendation by its independent Ethics Committee. Its Assistant Secretary Wing Commander (Retd) Chandana Liyanage also stands interdicted by the Subramaniam-led Executive Board of the NOC over allegations of misappropriation of its funds and similar corruption charges.
(JK)