- Public Security Min. says CIABOC, CID, FCID will conduct probes into fraud/corruption/wrongdoing
The complaints received by the Anti-Corruption Committee Secretariat (ACCS) during the United National Front (UNF) ‘yahapalana (good governance)’ Government are still valid, and that investigations into them will be carried out by the relevant agencies, said the Minister of Public Security and former ACCS Director, Ananda Wijepala.
In 2015, the UNF Government established the ACCS to investigate large-scale corruption and fraud from the previous Government, and recommend measures to prevent future occurrences.
Speaking to The Daily Morning, Wijepala said that around 1,000 complaints were received by the ACCS regarding fraud, corruption, and other alleged wrongdoing. Out of them, he said that around 500 were forwarded to law enforcement bodies such as the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), and the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) after a preliminary review by the ACCS.
“Certain parties have been claiming that the ACCS has been investigating, but it isn't. What happened was that the people were reluctant to go to the Police, the CID, or the CIABOC to lodge complaints at that time. Considering this, the then Government established a structure to receive complaints. That's how the ACCS was established. A Deputy Solicitor General from the Attorney General's (AG) Department and intelligence officers were also attached to it. We received complaints, carried out a preliminary review, and then forwarded them to the relevant institutions," Minister Wijepala explained.
He added that some of the cases filed through the ACCS were derailed by the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into Allegations of Political Victimisation appointed by former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2019. “The Government led by Rajapaksa whitewashed corruption and fraud under the guise of political victimisation. The CoI deactivated many of the cases that were being heard. The AG’s Department also backed the CoI's process at the time,” the minister pointed out.
In response to a query regarding the current Government's stance on the complaints received by the ACCS, he said that the files related to those complaints are now being reopened and looked into by the relevant institutions. “Those files are with the CIABOC, the CID, and the FCID. Those complaints are still valid. Everything that can be done is being done. These institutions will investigate and take appropriate action," he said.
The ACCS, initially proposed by then-Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, was established to recommend measures to prevent corruption and fraud. Wickremesinghe served as its Chairperson, and other members included then-Parliamentarian and current President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Wijepala, late MPs Mangala Samaraweera and R. Sampanthan, and then-Ministers and MPs, Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe PC, Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, M.A. Sumanthiran PC, J.C. Weliamuna PC, Dr. Jayampathi Wickramaratne PC and Malik Samarawickrama.