• Ex-Health Secy. arrested by CIABOC and remanded over same 
• Ranil, ex-Cab. Mins. and docs named among 350 witnesses 
• Keheliya, wife, daughters, son-in-law indicted in Money Laundering Prevention Act case

The Attorney General (AG) yesterday (26) served indictments before the Colombo High Court (HC) Special Trial-at-Bar on former Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella and 11 others over the alleged import of substandard human intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) vials. 

The indictment consisted of a total of 13 charges related to conspiracy and the criminal misuse of public funds. The charges allege that the accused, including Rambukwella, conspired to misappropriate Rs. 144.4 million of public funds by supplying 6,195 vials of substances falsely labeled as IG – namely, Human IG and Rituximab – to the Medical Supplies Division of the Ministry of Health.

Previously, the AG had submitted a request to the Chief Justice (CJ) for the case to be heard before a Special three-Judge bench, considering the significant public interest surrounding the case. Accordingly, the CJ appointed a three-Judge panel comprising HC Judges Mahesh Weeraman, Pradeep Abeyratne, and Amali Ranawira to hear the case.

In 2022, amidst the country’s economic crisis, a number of high-ranking health officials were allegedly involved in the purchase of medicine stocks by changing existing procurement procedures and creating a false shortage of drugs in the country. In such a context, three patients in Kandy, Matale, and Colombo who had used human IG vaccines, one of the types of medicines purchased from the said medicine stocks, had developed complications, raising concerns about the quality of the medicine.

Accordingly, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) launched an investigation based on two complaints received regarding this matter.

Subsequently, a case was filed before the Maligakanda Magistrate Court (MC), naming 12 individuals as suspects. These include the owner of the company that supplied the substandard drugs, Sudath Janaka Fernando, Rambukwella, the former Secretary to the Ministry of Health Janaka Sri Chandraguptha, and a group of other high-ranking officials in the health sector.

Although 10 suspects in the case were arrested and produced before Court, they were remanded and later released on bail. However, the first suspect, the supplier of the substandard human IG vaccines, is still in remand custody.

In this context, on 19 June, Deputy Solicitor General Lakmini Girihagama, who last reported the progress of the investigations to the Court, stated that the CID’s probe into the substandard human IG vials case, which lasted one year, eight months, and six days, has now been concluded.

Accordingly, the AG served indictments yesterday before the Colombo HC Special Trial-at-Bar on Rambukwella and 11 others accused in the case. 

Meanwhile, Chandraguptha, who arrived at the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) yesterday to record a statement regarding the alleged procurement of substandard drugs, has been arrested by the CIABOC. He has since been remanded until 8 July after being produced before the Colombo Chief MC.

Elsewhere, indictments have been served before the Colombo HC on Rambukwella, his wife, three daughters and a son-in-law. The Indictments were served by the CIABOC under 43 charges. Rambukwella, his wife Kusum Priyadarshini Epa and four other family members were arrested previously by the CIABOC in connection with an investigation conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. They were subsequently released on bail by the Colombo MC.

Also, former President Ranil Wickremesinghe and several former Cabinet Ministers have been named as witnesses in the case against Rambukwella over the alleged import of substandard human IG vials. Around 350 individuals have been listed as witnesses in this case. Among them are Wickremesinghe and former ministers, Nimal Siripala de Silva, President’s Counsel Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, Douglas Devananda, and Roshan Ranasinghe. Additionally, a group of doctors, including the Chairperson of the National Medicines Regulatory Authority Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama has also been named. Furthermore, nearly 300 case documents have been submitted by the prosecution in relation to the case.