Financial Times

GoldQuest shipment detained
Sri Lanka Customs have detained a haul of GoldQuest products in the ongoing probe into the import of gold items to the country, a joint investigation by The Sunday Times FT and Lanka Business Report television has revealed.

The gold products, including medallions that GoldQuest calls 'coins', were earlier alleged to have been undervalued and cleared on an endorsement from the Department of Import and Export Control. Customs sleuths have questioned officials in the department regarding the import and clearance of these products.

"This time the department has refused to give approval for clearance of the latest air cargo shipment of GoldQuest products," a customs official said. The shipment has a transaction value of around Rs 20 million, he said.

Customs investigators are probing how these medallions were cleared as a bulk consignment as if it were on D/P terms (Documents against Payment) when they were actually prepaid by individual TCOs of GoldQuest.

Investigators said high value consignments cannot be prepaid according to Sri Lankan law and should be either D/P or D/A (Documents against Acceptance) terms. Customs have also questioned the management of the shipping company and around 50 customers in the under-invoicing probe.

Central Bank Deputy Governor W.A. Wijewardene said the Central Bank's Exchange Control Department is probing to see if people who invested in Gold Quest had violated exchange control regulations. But officials were not sure whether the scheme itself was illegal.

Last week Nimal Gunewardene, head of the Bates Advertising agency informed both The Sunday Times FT and Lanka Business Report that he had been appointed public relations consultant to GoldQuest.

Both The Sunday Times FT and Lanka Business Report offered free editorial space and time for Gunewardene's client to represent his position until Friday morning. At the time of going to press this offer has not been made use of.

Customs is also probing the use of so-called 'e-card' - a kind of prepaid device used to make purchases from abroad, which is an illegal way to send foreign exchange overseas.

The GoldQuest company is said to have businesses ranging from a gold mint to a travel package company in addition to an investment arm. It also has bought stakes in several listed companies in Sri Lanka.

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