Extradition request for Mahendran sent to Singapore

• 21,000-page dossier sent to SL High Commission in Singapore to be handed over to MFA there
• Extradition request signed by President before dispatch
• Former CB Governor indicted before HC Trial-at-Bar for bond scam
• Mahendran currently a Singaporean citizen 

By Chandani Kirinde 

The Foreign Ministry yesterday forwarded the extradition request from the Government of Sri Lanka seeking the extradition of former Central Bank Governor Arjun Mahendran to be delivered to the

Arjun Mahendran

relevant authorities in Singapore. The 21,000-page dossier inclusive of certified copies pertaining to the case, statements of witnesses etc. was dispatched to the Sri Lanka High Commission in Singapore to be handed over to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs there, an official of the Attorney General’s Department said.

The extradition request was signed by President Maithripala Sirisena before it was dispatched to Singapore. 

Mahendran, who is the former Governor of the Central Bank under whose tenure the bond scam took place, has been absconding since he was named a suspect in the case. He is a Singaporean citizen.

Indictments were filed against Mahendran and nine others before the Permanent High Court at Bar in June this year but Mahendran and another suspect are absconding.

The High Court at Bar allowed the AG’s Department to proceed with the extradition request after it filed an affidavit in court explaining the reasons as to why a warrant should be issued against Mahendran, who is the first accused in the case.

After the warrant was obtained from the Permanent High Court at Bar, the AG’s Department compiled the dossier seeking the extradition request of the former CB Governor from Singapore so as to ensure he was present at the bond scam trial, AG Co-Ordinating Secretary Nishara Jayaratne said.