Documents in the possession of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) have revealed that all the assets of Ceylinco Consolidated Chairman Lalith Kotelawala including his residence are owned not by him but by various companies in the group. “This would imply that he doesn’t have any personal assets or they are hidden somewhere else, “one CID investigator said.
Tomorrow (May 11), a list of assets of the Golden Key Credit Card Company Ltd (GK) and its related parties prepared by the Central Bank (CB) with the assistance of CID and will be submitted to the Supreme Court (SC), AG’s Department sources told The Sunday Times FT.
The SC resumes hearing in the fundamental rights case filed by a group of GK depositors seeking relief.
Some directors of GK subsidiaries and associate companies have made their declarations to the special task force unit set up at the CB to handle this matter.
CID investigations have also revealed that Deputy Chairman of Golden Key Khavan Perera who is in remand custody in connection with the GK scam had purchased a BMW, Pajero, Honda CRV, Honda and two other vehicles for him and his domestic use, from GK funds. His monthly petrol bill was around Rs 300,000.
The CID is in the process of unearthing more information on Perera’s dealings and several other officials of the company which would amount to criminal breach of trust, the CID investigator said. The CID sleuths are going through the vast number of documents recently seized from a stores complex at Rajagiriya belonging to the Ceylinco Group.
The investigator said some of these documents would help the CID to apprehend more suspects who amassed assets spending GK depositors money. He added that the mobile telephone bill of some of the top GK officers totalled several thousand rupees per month, per person.
The CID has also unearthed information and details of Ceylinco Consolidated international offices in Australia , Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, United Kingdom and the SA. Investigations also revealed that GK had accepted deposits ranging from Rs 5 million to Rs 10 million from at least five persons just a few days of the company collapsing and issuing a temporary receipt for the security deposit.
Meanwhile Kotelawala is frequently changing his counsel as a strategy to mislead the judiciary by breaking the continuity of submissions been made on his behalf, Deputy Solicitor General Sarath Jayamanne alleged.
He told The Sunday Times FT that a new counsel supported Kotelawala’s bail application before the Colombo High Court on May 4. Kotelawala has changed his counsels at least four times in the Mount Lavinia Magistrate Court and outside in the past few months .
Last Monday, counsel Dharshana Kuruppu informed the High Court that Senior Counsel Rienzie Arsecularatne PC together with Wasantha Bandara will appear on behalf of the bail application. Earlier C. R. de Silva PC supported the revision bail application in the Mount Lavinia courts.
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