Anurudda Ratwatte's son, Chanuka Ratwatte and four others, who were arrested by the FCID in connection with an alleged misappropriation of Rs. 4.2 billion government funds, were ordered to be remanded till September 28 by the Colombo Fort Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne.
The prosecution alleged that the suspects had misused the funds belonging to the four departments of the Central Bank and the Employees Provident Funds at the CEB while investing those funds in the Government Securities through an alleged company named as 'Entrust Securities PLC', which is headed by the suspects.
The Central Bank took over Entrust Securities PLC this January and handed it over to the National Savings Bank as the management agent, to restructure the troubled primary dealer.
The Central Bank however did not directly admit uncovering of any fraudulent activities by the company/top management but said it was taken over to ensure the credibility of the government securities market.
The FCID said the suspects were member of the alleged company, which was registered under the Central Bank as a primary sales broking company to invest in securities and bonds.
They told court that the government funds were never invested in the securities, but it was revealed that some funds were transferred into the Entrust Ltd causing a huge financial lost to the government.
The suspects were charged under the section 5(3) and 8(3) of the Public Property Act and section 386 of the Penal Code over criminal breach of trust and misappropriation.
Suspects were Dharmapriya Bandara Dasanayake (Chairman of the Entrust Securities PLC), Chanuka Ratwatte (Managing Director), Romesha Dushanthi Senarath Executive Director), Sanjeewa Dayaratne (Director) and Niloshan Romelo Mendis (Director).
Upon a complaint received from the Central Bank, the FCID conducted the investigation over the allegations.
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