News
Ravi K faces perjury charges
View(s):The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) this week took Parliamentarian Ravi Karunanayake to court for the offence of intentionally giving false evidence–committing perjury–before the commission that inquired into irregularities in the issuance of Treasury Bonds.
Action was filed in the Colombo Magistrate’s Court under Sections 188 and 190 of the Penal Code. Section 188 states: “Whoever, being legally bound by an oath or affirmation, or by any express provision of law to state the truth, or being bound by law to make a declaration upon any subject, makes any statement which is false, and which he either knows or believes to be false, or does not believe to be true, is said to give ‘false evidence’.”
Section 190 states: “Whoever intentionally gives false evidence in any stage of a judicial proceeding, or fabricates false evidence for the purpose of being used in any stage of a judicial proceeding, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to a fine; and whoever intentionally gives or fabricates false evidence in any other case shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, and shall also be liable to a fine.”
The CID recorded statements from 30 people. Mr Karunanayake stands accused of providing false evidence before the commission on five counts.
The former Finance Minister claimed he had no personal, business or official ties with Arjun Aloysius but investigators found the two had maintained a close relationship. He denied knowing a person named Neil de Silva or knowledge of a short message sent to his phone by him. Investigators found Mr Karunanayake knew Mr de Silva well. He denied making inquiries from Vijitha Wijesuriya (Anika Wijesuriya’s brother) about a suitable house for rent. Investigators found that he had done so.
Mr Karunanayake also said before the Commission that he didn’t know that the rent of a penthouse occupied by him and his family members at Monarch Apartments was paid for by Walt & Row, a company owned by Arjun Aloysius. Investigators found that he was, indeed, in the know of this. He also claimed that a company owned by his family, Global Transportation & Logistics (Pvt) Ltd, had settled the rent on the penthouse at Monarch, but investigations showed this was not true.
The CID sought several magisterial orders to continue with investigations. Acceding, Colombo Chief Magistrate Ranga Dissanayake ordered two mobile service providers to release details of calls made by Mr Karunanayake, his wife Mela, his daughter Onella, Neil de Silva, Vijitha Wijesuriya, Ruwan Gallage, Sanath Bandara, Anika Wijesuriya and B J R Sinniah between January 1, 2015, and August 2, 2017.
Statements were ordered to be recorded from Mr. Karunanayake, Mela and Onella Karunanayake, Mr Sinniah who is the Global Transportation & Logistics accountant, Arjun Aloysius and attorney-at-law Sumathipala Udugamasuriya. The Registrar of Global Transportation and Logistics was required to submit all cash books, vouchers, bank statements from January 1, 2105 to August 2, 2017.
Form 48 and other details of the directors of Global Transportation and Logistics along with board’s decisions, proposals, papers and inventories were also ordered to be handed over to the CID.
The details of any transactions between Walt & Row, Mr. Karunanayake or his family members and Global Transportation and Logistics must also be submitted to the CID in a comprehensive report compiled and certified as being authentic by the Chief Accountants and Auditors of the two companies.
The CID started investigations on the Attorney General’s advice. President Maithripala Sirisena set up a Commission to inquire into the issuance of Treasury Bonds between February 1, 2015, and March 31, 2016. A copy of the report presented to the President on December 30, 2017 was given to the CID by the President’s Secretary on January 30, 2018.
The President also sent the report to the AG’s Department for advice on implementation of its recommendations. The AG requested the CID to look into whether any crimes in addition to the allegations related to the issuance of Treasury Bonds had occurred. They were told to investigate specifically whether Perpetual Treasuries Ltd Chief Executive Officer Kasun Palisena, Steve Samuel (Arjun Aloysius’s personal secretary), Mr Karunanayake and Mr Sinniah had given false evidence to the Commission.
The CID took into consideration recommendation number 25 of the Commission which reads: “As stated earlier in Chapter 24, we also recommend that the Hon Attorney General and other appropriate authorities consider whether some of the evidence given by Hon Ravi Karunanayake, MP, before us is shown to have been incorrect and, if that is the case, whether Mr Karunanayake should be prosecuted under Section 179 and/or Section 188 of the Penal Code or other relevant provision of the law, read with Section 9 of the Commission of Inquiry Act No 17 of 1948.”