Touchwood Kiwlegedera on the run
View(s):While courts are trying to track down former Touchwood Investments chief Lanka Kiwlegedera, the Liquidator is now seeking ways to prevent the reported felling of trees on lands owned by the company last week.
Summons were issued on Mr. Kiwlegedera to appear before courts on July 31 as he had failed to submit the assets of the company as requested by the liquidator Sudath Kumar. It was learnt that Mr. Kiwlegedera has either fled the country or was seeking to do so and repeated attempts to contact him had failed.
Mr. Kumar told the Business Times that he had received several telephone calls from investors pertaining to the felling of trees on Iyer estate on Wednesday and Thursday of this week.
In this regard, he had requested these parties to lodge complaints with the Kuruwita police station. The trees had been felled at night, he said. At present nearly 300 have submitted their claims to the liquidator through registered post and 100 have been sent via email, the liquidator said.
In a new development, some investors were not submitting their claims based upon their deeds stating that these lands were in fact belonging solely to them since they were provided with a transfer deed, the Touchwood Stakeholders Association Coordinator and lawyer Lakshan Dias said.He noted that however, investors who were part of the association were filing their claims with the liquidator for shareholders, personal loans, agar wood plantations, cheques issued and debentures bought through the company. But the deeds of the properties held by these investors were not submitted for claims to the liquidator since it was freehold land belonging solely to the said investors, Mr. Dias said.