Any news on Pandora?

It has been over five months since several prominent Sri Lankans were featured in the explosive leaked documents, termed Pandora Papers, which uncovered the financial secrets of more than 330 politicians in 91 countries and exposed a shadow economy thriving in offshore or secret jurisdictions.

The files exposed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) named a prominent member of the current ruling family, Nirupama Rajapaksa and her husband, Thirukumar Nadesan. The documents reveal that Rajapaksa and Nadesan together controlled a shell company used to buy luxury apartments in London and Sydney, and art while using them also to make numerous other investments. Based on the Pandora Papers, Nadesan is said to have set up other shell companies and trusts in secret jurisdictions and used them to obtain lucrative consulting contracts from foreign companies doing business with the Sri Lankan Government.

“In confidential emails to Asiaciti Trust, a Singapore-based offshore services provider, a long-time adviser of Nadesan’s put his overall wealth, as of 2011, at more than $ 160 million,” the ICIJ reported, with the disclaimer that the figure could not be independently verified. At the time Nadesan had amassed this wealth and obtained favourable contracts from the Sri Lankan Government, his wife was serving as Deputy Minister of Water Supply and Drainage in her uncle, Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Government.

In October 2021, after the exposure in the Pandora Papers, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa directed the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption to launch an immediate investigation into the alleged malpractice and report to him of the findings within a month. In November 2021, the presidential secretariat issued a press release stating that the Bribery Commission had handed over an interim report to the President regarding their investigations. 

Even though the interim report was not made public, the press release stated that the Director-General of the Commission had informed that the various banks and financial institutions have been requested to submit reports containing the bank account details of Thirukumar Nadesan. “As the investigation has not been completed, the final report will be issued after further scrutinising the called reports and other relevant investigations are carried out,” the presidential secretariat said.

Despite the lapse of several months, there has not been any news regarding the investigations by the Bribery Commission. Past records into alleged corruption and financial malpractice do not offer much hope that this investigation would yield any meaningful results. Politically connected Sri Lankans have routinely made these global corruption lists but there has hardly been any domestic action to bring them to account. In 2016, the ICIJ’s Panama Papers exposed the Chairman of Avant Garde Ltd., an individual closely associated with the current President, having siphoned enormous amounts of money into offshore accounts. Several other individuals associated with the same company were also listed in the same exposé. 

In 2020 the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) discovered a massive financial fraud by Airbus Industries which exposed that the airline company had paid huge bribes to SriLankan Airlines officials between July 2011 and June 2015 to finalise an aircraft procurement deal completely unfavourable to the national carrier. Again, President Rajapaksa ordered an investigation. Not much has been heard of that either.

None of these corruption cases has seen a culprit ever be held accountable. The credibility of the judicial system, the investigating branches of the police, the Attorney General’s Department and the Bribery Commission should be under scrutiny for their lack of action in these cases. With regard to the Pandora Papers, curiously, no investigating arm of the State other than the Bribery Commission has been tasked to look into the individuals. It is therefore imperative that the Commission carry out its duties in a manner that would win the confidence of the public. 

The Commission is already compromised due to politicisation after the enactment of the 20th amendment to the constitution. The individuals appointed to the commission by President Rajapaksa had not earned their respect while in public service nor are they known for their integrity. However, they now have an opportunity to redeem themselves at least for the sake of their legacies. It is hoped that they have the moral courage to do so.