Foreign currency deposits in failed Golden Key firm ?
Questions are surfacing over foreign remittances made as deposits in the collapsed Golden Key (GK) Company at a time when the Central Bank (CB), under a government-plan is preparing what is seen as a payment plan that would end the misery of thousands of depositors.
The Business Times probed this issue this week after a reader sent in a letter raising questions over foreign deposits and the lack of attention in any payment plan.
According to the letter a substantial part of the deposits were remittances in foreign currency by Sri Lankans worked and working abroad. This money had been converted to local currency and deposited in GK accounts.
A senior banker who wished to remain anonymous, told the Business Times that an average 300 to 500 foreign remittances were being credited to the GK accounts at the Bank of Ceylon even after the collapse of the GK company in December 2008, and had been converted to local currency. These remittances were coming in even in 2014.
This money running up to millions of rupees was credited to GK accounts, he said, adding that GK operated a Ceylinco Express Remittance scheme in Singapore as an international money transfer system.
The CB should investigate into this matter to find out as to what happened to the foreign currency, he said.
Dinesh Perera, CEO of the court-appointed GK unit, told the Business Times that he will have to peruse accounts and bank statements to verify as to whether the company had received such foreign remittances (since its collapse).
The letter sent to the Business Times asked: “What happened to the foreign currency? Did the CB receive the foreign currency or did these remittances go somewhere elsewhere? If these remittances were not accounted properly, it is a crime”.
He said this issue doesn’t appear to have drawn the attention of the authorities.
Meanwhile depositors are unhappy with the new payment plan presented by the Ministry of Finance and the CB, saying this is almost similar to the ongoing plan where 59 per cent of their deposits would be converted to shares in the GK company.