Thursday 24 May 2018

A parliamentarian received ‘cash cheque’ from PTL related company: ASG Kodagoda






- Court orders for more details of those companies

-   Arjun Aloysius, Kasun Palisena re-remanded till June 7 

By Shehan Chamika Silva 

Additional Solicitor General Yasantha Kodagoda today said a cash cheque of ‘Walt and Row Associates’- a group company of Perpetual Treasuries Ltd, amounting to Rs. 1 million, had been encashed by a security officer of a Parliamentarian. 

The name of the Parliamentarian which was stated in the B report was not revealed in open courts by the Prosecution. 

This was revealed according to a statement given by a police officer to the CID recently, who was attached to the security of the so called Politician.
 
Elaborating on the suspicious nature in which Perpetual Treasuries Ltd had transacted with its group companies (W.M. & Mendis and Walt & Row Associates) to encash cheques which had been ultimately lasted as money to third parties, ASG Kodagoda revealed another encashment of a cash cheque in similar manner. 

ASG Kodagoda said that the investigation had accidentally revealed another similar cheque encashment where an employee of a professional services providing company (Certis Lanka) was interviewed by the CID. 

This cheque was also amounting to Rs. 1 million belonging to W.M. & Mendis- a PTL related group company. 

It was explained that on behalf of W.M. & Mendis this person had encashed the cheque from a reputed Bank and subsequently the money in cash had been handed over to a third party who was seated in the passanger seat of a Defender at the car park of the Bank premises. 

The name of this third party was also not revealed in open proceedings by the ASG.

However, in expectation of perusing on more possible 'money trading' activities of PTL, the prosecution obtained a court order on Certis Lanka to provide details about the services it provided to the PTL and its related companies, W.M. & Mendis and Walt & Row Associates.

At the onset of the inquiry, ASG Kodagoda also sought necessary court orders in relation to certain details of the secondary market transactions of PTL. 

He explained that it was not only about how PTL operated in the Primary Market but also how it dealt within the bond related secondary market. 
It was explained that every primary dealer like PTL had to maintain records about their secondary market dealings in both physical nature (as paper works) and in the scriptless computer system contemporaneously with the Central Bank's computer system (RTGS). 

This computer system that primary dealers operate in relation with secondary market deals is installed and maintained generally by a company called Lanka Finance Services Bureau. 

In view of identifying whether PTL had fed its secondary transactions properly into the CBSL scriptless system (RTGS) via its computer system provided by LFSB, Fort Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne directed LFSB to provide all details relating to secondary market transactions of PTL including ‘SWIFT messages’ from January 2015 to February 2018. 
The Magistrate also directed Geoffrey Aloysius who was the second share holder of PTL to provide all the physical documents that it maintained during all bond transactions to the prosecution. 

In the meantime, Perpetual Treasuries Ltd owner Arjun Aloysius and its CEO Kasun Palisena were ordered to be re-remanded till June 7 by the magistrate over the magisterial inquiry in which they were accused of abetting and conspiring with Arjuna Mahendran to misappropriate public funds worth Rs. 688 million during the Bond auction held on February 27, 2015.

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