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AG to CID: Investigate CB Gov.’s complaint on Bond issue
View(s):The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) has been advised by the Attorney General’s (AG) Dept to treat a written complaint made by Central Bank (CB) Governor Indrajith Coomaraswamy, in relation to the Treasury Bond (TB) issue, as first information in terms of the Code of Criminal Procedure Act, and commence investigations on that basis.
The CID has also been directed to expedite such investigations and report its progress to the AG’s Dept.
However, it is still not clear if the CID had begun investigations into the TB issue, even though a police team comprising of CID officials, has been appointed to assist the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) looking into the issuance of TBs, during the period February 1, 2015 to March 31, 2016.
This team of police officers on Friday recorded a lengthy statement from former CB governor Arjun Mahendran on the TB auction of February 27, 2015, over allegations he had interfered with the auction that day, in order to favour a company linked to his son-in-law.
Commission sources said that Mr Mahendran is likely to be called to give evidence again this week, and questioned on the contents of his statement.
Earlier this week, the AG wrote to the Secretary General (SG) of Parliament, Dhammika Dasanayake, giving details of the steps taken by the Dept, based on the findings of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) on the issue.
The COPE report was forwarded by the Prime Minister’s Secretary to the AG, asking for his advice.