Special Commission to investigate GK collapse, says President
The beginning of the end of the Golden Key (GK) depositors’ tearful saga dawned at the BMICH in Colombo on Friday with the launch of the government’s repayment process after seven and half years of legal battles, street protests, broken promises and failed action plans.
President Maithripala Sirisena hands over a cheque to one of the GK depositors in the presence of Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran. Last week the President told reporters that he had suggested that the Governor should resign over the Treasury Bond debacle. Inset – section of the depositors. Pix by Indika Handuwala
The return of money owed to GK depositors was one of the proposals made in the 2015 interim budget in accordance with the 100 days programme put forward before the people during the previous presidential elections. The Cabinet gave its approval to Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayak
President Maithripala Sirisena hands over a cheque to one of the GK depositors in the presence of Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran. Last week the President told reporters that he had suggested that the Governor should resign over the Treasury Bond debacle. Inset – section of the depositors. Pix by Indika Handuwala
e’s payment schedule last week but it had to overcome various obstacles to make it a reality, Anura Gunawardena, a front line member of a GK pressure group told the Business Times.
The fulfillment of the decision taken by Minister Ravi Karunanayake to launch the repayment process for depositors with deposits up to Rs. 2 million from Friday 24 became a difficult task due to obstacles and delaying tactics of some of the directors of GK company appointed by the Monetary Board with the consent of the Supreme Court.
He said that a group of depositors headed by Marco Perera, President of the Voice of the GK Depositors for Justice, had to stage a protest demonstration at the GK office in Bambalapitiya on Thursday to persuade GK directors Priyantha Fernando Dushyanthi Hapugoda, V.K. Choksy, Jehan Amarathunga, Aruna Lekamge and Wasantha Gunathilake to convene a board meeting to pass a resolution and make the repayment on Friday.
Friday’s event at one point turned into a platform seeking support for the UNP-led coalition when Mr. Perera, in a speech, urged depositors to vote for the UNP at the August 17 poll due to the “intervention of Prime Minister (PM) Ranil Wickremesinghe to mete out justice to the depositors”. The comment was made in the presence of the President while the PM had left the hall by that time.
GK directors passed the resolution at around 4.30 pm on Thursday and the preparation of cheques and signing was completed late night on the same day, Mr Gunawardena said. The Finance Ministry had made arrangements earlier to make the first tranche of payments of 41 per cent of the account balance of GK depositors utilizing Treasury funds amounting to Rs.544.3 million, ministry sources said.
A sum of Rs. 544.3 million had been credited by the Treasury to the company account. Payments of depositors with the account balance of up to Rs. 2 million will be paid within the next two weeks. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told the gathering of over 300 GK depositors at the BMICH Main Hall that the Central Bank had earlier ignored the finding of its Inspection Unit in 2005-2006 on the status of GK and it had resulted in the collapse of the company.
He said that GK company has been forced to crash by the previous regime.New laws will be introduced to the non-banking finance sector to protect depositors and prevent the re-occurrence of similar debacles again. After that the Prime Minister left the premises without waiting to hear the president’s address saying he was unable to stay till the end of the ceremony as he had to attend an important function outstation.
President Maithripala Sirisena noted that a special presidential commission will be appointed to investigate the GK debacle and those who were responsible for it. A former Supreme Court Judge will head the one man commission which will make recommendations to take legal action against persons who embezzled money of the company before and after the collapse of the GK company.
Minister Karunanayake told the gathering of over 300 GK depositors that the Attorney General’s Department had delayed the presentation of details of the cabinet proposal and the repayment schedule prepared by the ministry and the Central Bank before the Supreme Court reasons best known to them.
