CoPE directs ministry to hand over SLC audit report to CID
Before the CoPE session began - Pic by Amila Gamage
The Committee on Public Enterprises (CoPE) on Thursday directed Sports Ministry Secretary K.D.S Ruwanchandra to hand over relevant sections of the Special Audit of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) on TV Rights to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to facilitate their ongoing investigation on the controversial wire transfer fraud.
The CID is currently investigating the incident where Sony Pictures Networks India (Pvt) Ltd had transferred a sum of US$ 187,000 due for South Africa’s 2018 tour of Sri Lanka to an account in Banamex Bank, Mexico, allegedly on the instructions of the then SLC’s Head of Finance.
CoPE anticipates that the documents – which include a 100-page section of the audit report on the collection of income through the sale of international broadcast rights and the technical report submitted to the National Audit Office (NAO) by the Computer Emergency Readiness Team (CERT) – could help the CID shed some light into the mysterious transaction. Investigators have made little progress so far.
Led by parliamentarian Sunil Handunnetti, CoPE cross-examined the officials for over three hours on various matters highlighted in the special audit. These include SLC’s controversial charity arm Cricket Aid, award of broadcasting rights both local and international, a donation made to the Malwatte Chapter to acquire temple-owned land for a cricket campus, and the process followed in appointing former head coach Chandika Hathurusingha.
CoPE extensively questioned SLC’s partnership with Ten Sports, the current broadcast partner. According to the audit report, the deal signed in 2012 for an eight-year period caused a financial loss of over US$ 18 million to the SLC. When the matter was raised, SLC, which had earlier admitted the loss to the NAO, took a u-turn. They insisted they had followed due process in selecting the winner, and that there had been no loss.
According to records in the audit, Ten Sports clinched the rights for US$ 34.873 million despite Nimbus Communication Ltd submitting the highest bid of US$ 53.115 million. Nimbus, once a leading broadcaster, was liquidated in 2018 following a court order.
The committee asked why SLC wanted a cricket campus; why a donation of Rs. 25 million was paid to a temple in Kandy; where the other Rs. 25 million set aside as temple donation had gone; and why SLC had not proceeded with the project despite obtaining the land in 2016.
SLC said that, even though they had initially allocated Rs. 50 million as a donation, they had managed to bring it down to half after discussion with the Chief Priest. But they could not provide documentary evidence to substantiate these claims. They have now changed the project from a cricket campus to a high-performance centre in order to avoid the need for approvals from the University Grants Commission, SLC said, adding that they hoped to kick-off the project soon.
There will be ten indoor nets, ten turf wickets and a hostel to provide training facilities for cricketers and other stakeholders involved with the game, SLC president Shammi Silva told CoPE. On the subject of Cricket Aid, SLC said that they have disbanded the company and absorbed it. The NAO, however, will conduct a separate audit on the charity arm which was formed in 2016.