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JVP alleges Thirukumar Nadesan transferring money around

13 Dec 2021

  • Bribery and Corruption Commission still investigating
  • Confirms recording statement from Nirupama on 1 Dec.
BY Pamodi Waravita Former Parliamentarian and current Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Politburo Member Wasantha Samarasinghe yesterday (13) accused business tycoon Thirukumar Nadesan of transferring money to different bank accounts following the Pandora Papers revelations concerning him and his wife Nirupama Rajapaksa. “Nadesan was in a five-star hotel suite in Singapore this month with his son who lives in Australia. They had meetings with representatives from different banks to transfer cash everywhere. A total of 8,500 Swiss francs is needed per day for a suite there, and with the cost of the visitors, it costs 12,000 Swiss francs per day. They stayed for 15 days,” alleged Samarasinghe, addressing a gathering. Samarasinghe stressed that the money that was allegedly stolen from Sri Lanka by individuals must be brought back into the country and used for public service. “An Act can be passed in Parliament to request foreign countries to send the money in those private bank accounts,” he added. Meanwhile, the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) confirmed to The Morning that Rajapaksa had given her statement to the CIABOC on 1 December with regard to the ongoing investigations into the Pandora Papers revelations. Nadesan has been called into the CIABOC twice to make statements so far, while the CIABOC also said that it is studying the documents received from the Inland Revenue Department of Sri Lanka (IRD) and local banks. The CIABOC also told The Morning yesterday that while it is unlikely that Nadesan and Rajapaksa will be called to the CIABOC to make another statement in this regard, the investigations, however, are ongoing into the matter. Nirupama Rajapaksa – niece of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, and Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa – and Nadesan have been named in the recent International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) Pandora Papers file leak. The documents allege that the couple were involved in shell companies (inactive companies used as vehicles for various financial manoeuvres or kept dormant for future use in some other capacity) located in tax havens, which in turn obtained lucrative consulting contracts from foreign companies doing business with the Government of Sri Lanka. President Rajapaksa, on 6 October, instructed the CIABOC to launch an immediate investigation into the allegations against Sri Lankans implicated in the Pandora Papers file leak in connection with transactions, including the maintenance of large cash deposits. Presidential Secretariat Director General of Legal Affairs and Attorney-at-Law Harigupta Rohanadheera, in his letter to the CIABOC, has requested a report regarding the matter within a month from 6 October. Neither Nirupama Rajapaksa nor Nadesan were named in the letter. However, despite the deadline, only an interim report was given on 8 November, informing the President that the investigation is yet to be concluded. In 2016, when incumbent Finance Minister Rajapaksa was accused of using public funds to build a villa in Malwana, Nadesan was also charged with embezzlement in connection with the incident. Although the pair has since denied any wrongdoing, the legal case into the matter is still ongoing. The ICIJ, which exposed the Pandora Papers, also claimed that when Nadesan was arrested on embezzlement charges related to this case, he wrote a letter to then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe proclaiming his innocence. He had said that he was unaware until he read news reports that Basil Rajapaksa had built a house on his property. He had added that the land was then sold to avoid “harm to his name and reputation”. “I request you to appreciate that I have not done anything improper or illegal and to therefore do justice by me. My transactions are transparent and a matter of record,” Nadesan had written, according to the ICIJ. The ICIJ further said that Asiaciti Trust, a Singapore-based offshore services provider which managed some of Nadesan’s offshore accounts, had stated in confidential electronic mails that as of 2011, Nadesan’s overall wealth was $ 160 million. An analysis by the ICIJ has found that Asiaciti Trust alone managed assets valued at about $ 18 million for Nadesan.


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