| News |
||||
|
Public Trustee quizzed over Pramuka ‘Gold’ By Tania
Fernando Detective said
they had questioned Public Trustee N S A S Seneviratne on 'Gold
Certificates," which were allegedly issued by the disgraced
bank to those who deposited money. They said they
were probing claims that the Gold Certificate was a form of commission. It is alleged
that several top government officials had received Gold Certificates
or commissions from Pramuka for depositing state funds. The detectives said Pramuka officials had camouflaged the Gold Certificates but evidence was available to identify the officials who had received the commissions. They said more
officials would be questioned and the Attorney General's advice
sought on what action to take. The Commission
probing bribery and corruption is also looking into why the Public
Trustee invested so much money in the Pramuka Bank. Meanwhile,
the CID is awaiting information from Interpol as to the whereabouts
of Pramuka Chief Executive Officer Rohan Perera, who got away before
the bank crashed into liquidation. The Pramuka Savings and Develpment Bank which began with a bang and attracted thousands of depositors, ran into deep trouble later and its operations were suspended by the Central Bank which later decided to liquidate the bank. Rival parties say abductions continuing LTTE rivals
have complained to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission on Friday that
at least 30 of their political activists in the east had been abducted
by the Tigers during the past month, while general harassment and
intimidation were continuing. The complaints
were made by representatives of the the EPRLF (Vartharaja Perumal
Wing), the EPDP and the PLOTE at a meeting with the head of the
SLMM's Batticaloa branch. The LTTE had been invited for the meeting,
but its representatives did not turn up. An SLMM official
in Batticaloa said its area chief had gone to Kokkadicholai to take
up the complaints with the LTTE. The LTTE rivals said that though they were assisting the security forces, they were also political parties and the LTTE must keep its pledge to allow political diversity. The meeting came after the LTTE reportedly distributed leaflets in the east calling on youth to join the Tigers instead of associating with other parties or the Army. Housing and Estate Infrastructure Minister Arumugam Thondaman will be reshuffling the heads of institutions that come under the purview of his ministry tomorrow. The minister
said he had been monitoring the activities of the chairmen for the
past year and had decided that some of them will be able to perform
better in another place than in the place they are presently in. "None
of those who hold positions will be left out in the reshuffle. They
will be appointed again to positions on Monday" the minister
said. The NHDA, BMC, Water Board, State Engineering Corporation and Land Reclamation Board are reported to be some of the institutions that would have a change of chairmen. |
||||
Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
