The Pandora cabinet

Tuesday, 7 November 2023 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Yet another prominent Sri Lankan has been revealed in the latest batch of the ‘Pandora Papers’ into offshore assets investigated by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). Tiran Prasanna Christopher Alles, the current Minister for Public Security who is in charge of the Police, is listed as the owner and director of Banham Ventures Ltd. and Brompton Properties since July 2017.

Previously in 2021 the Pandora Papers revealed that Nirupama Rajapaksa, a former minister and a relative of the then ruling Rajapaksa family along with her husband Tiru, together controlled a shell company which was used to buy luxury apartments in London and Sydney and art, using these entities to make investments. Nadesan is said to have set up other shell companies and trusts in secrecy jurisdictions and used them to obtain lucrative consulting contracts from foreign companies doing business with the Sri Lankan Government, and to buy artwork.

At that time President Gotabaya Rajapaksa directed the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) to investigate the allegations. Despite the fanfare to this date there is no result of the supposed investigation by the bribery commission. The Inland Revenue Department, Central Bank’s Financial Investigation Unit, the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) of the Police or any other institution tasked with investigating financial crimes has seen fit to investigate any of these cases.

Alles has a dubious record. He was once accused of funnelling hundreds of millions of rupees to the LTTE in order to distort the 2005 Presidential election. An individual who was once investigated and indicted by the Attorney General for providing funding to a terrorist organisation is now the minister in charge of the police department. This sums up perfectly the entrenched nature of corruption and the impunity with those who are supposedly in charge of the public coffers.

The current Cabinet of Ministers is filled with such individuals with dubious track records. Prasanna Ranatunga, who was in fact, convicted for soliciting a bribe and handed a suspended sentence by the Colombo High Court continues as a cabinet minister. Trade Minister Nalin Fernando was arrested in 2018 while attempting to flee the country over accusations of misappropriating Rs. 39 million while serving as the Chairman of State-owned Sathosa. These are only a handful of examples, and the records of many other cabinet ministers are no better. Minister Bandula Gunawardena is accused of being a direct beneficiary of many corrupt deals while holding the portfolio of trade.

Due to pressure from the International Monetary Fund, the Government enacted the Anti-Corruption Bill that will include the ‘Stolen Assets Recovery’ (StAR) initiative. If there is political will there is now ample legislation to investigate Tiran Alles and others who are alleged to have amassed illicit wealth in offshore accounts. As Sri Lanka grapples with its worst financial crisis the revelations by none other than the minister in charge of police of possible graft must be made an opportunity to hold those involved accountable. It would be a demonstration of the will and ability of President Wickremesinghe to deliver on a promise to fight against corruption. With a cabinet filled with crooks, no one should however hold their breath.