Rs. 39 m Deyata Kirula fraud case to be referred to AG
Thursday, 18 July 2013 00:03
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By Lakmal Sooriyagoda
The statements given by two suspects before the Magistrate regarding a Rs. 39 million fraud at the Deyata Kirula exhibition site in Ampara are to be forwarded to the Attorney General for his advice, the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) informed Court yesterday.
When the case pertaining to the matter came up before Colombo Fort Acting Magistrate Priyantha Liyanage, the two suspects Kanthi Gunawardana, the former CEO of Deyata Kirula National Exhibition 2013, and Sarath Chandra Ekanayake, an owner of a construction company, were ordered to be further remanded till 31 July.
The suspect Kanthi Gunawardana who also served as an Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology was arrested by the CID soon after her anticipatory bail was rejected by the Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court.
Prosecutors alleged that a contract relating to the construction of temporary toilets had been given to her close relative by the suspect without the approval of the Procurement and Technical Evaluation Committee (PTEC). They further alleged that the 17-year-old son of the suspect had been named as the second owner of this construction company called Ransara Constructions, but not a single toilet had been constructed.
They further alleged that the company was believed to have been set up in concurrence with the Deyata Kirula Exhibition and a payment of Rs. 5 million was made to the construction company even prior to the agreement signed with Deyata Kirula Secretariat Office for constructing 400 toilets.
They further informed Court that a brother of the first owner of the construction company handed over Rs. 1.1 million to the CID which was given to him by his brother. The concerned person had told the Police that he had nothing to do with the Deyata Kirula Exhibition but received Rs. 1.1 million from his brother who owned the Ransara construction company.
Prosecutors further told Court that a timber shop owner handed over Rs. 592,750 to the CID, which was given to him by the petitioner to construct 19 louvre doors and seven doorframes required for a cinema hall at the exhibition site. It transpired in Court that the wooden items had not been installed at the exhibition site.
The CID further told Court that a complaint had been made in this regard by Telecommunications and Information Technology Ministry Secretary H.M. Gunasekara on 21 February regarding the alleged misappropriation amounting to Rs. 39 million.
In this case, the complainant alleged that the contract relating to the construction of temporary toilets had been given to a private company without the approval of the PTEC by the CEO of the Deyata Kirula Exhibition 2013 and thereby made an additional payment of Rs. 1.7 million to the contractor.
The complainant further alleged that the suspect had made other payments amounting to Rs. 12 million, Rs. 11 million and Rs. 255,000 for a reading room, a canteen and also for floral decorations respectively at the exhibition site.
