The former Mayor of the Moratuwa Municipal Council (MC) Saman Lal Fernando was granted bail by the Colombo Magistrate’s Court yesterday (23). Accordingly, Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama ordered the suspect to be released on a cash bail of Rs. 50,000 and three surety bails of Rs. 1 million each. 

The Magistrate also banned the suspect from travelling abroad and from entering the Moratuwa MC premises.

The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) arrested Fernando on 10 September and presented him before Court. He was arrested on suspicion that he had caused financial losses to the Government by making illegal payments to his associates, in violation of financial regulations, in relation to 112 development project contracts of the Moratuwa MC under the ‘Integrated Urban and Rural Road Development Project’.