Financial Times

Ondaatjie pays Rs 2 million to compound insider dealing offence
Hotelier George Ondaatjie, who is also a director of the Colombo Stock Exchange, has paid Rs 2 million to compound an insider dealing offence, the Securities and Exchange Commission said last week.

The insider dealing offence was related to trades by Ondaatjie in shares of Kandy Hotels Co. Ltd. (KHCL). The SEC said in a statement that under the SEC Act compounding does not entail a finding of guilt.

The SEC said that evidence elicited during the course of its investigation into the offence "suggested that the trades in question were carried out by Mr Ondaatjie whilst being privy to unpublished price sensitive information, relating to a proposed offer to be made by an international hotelier to the minority shareholders of KHCL at Rs 60 per share."

The SEC issued notice of action to Ondaatjie on December 28, 2004. "Consequent to the notice of action being issued to Mr Ondaatjie on charges of insider dealing, the SEC received written communication from him wherein he requested the SEC to compound the offence whilst denying that he had any knowledge of the unpublished price sensitive information pertaining to KHCL," the SEC said.

Back to Business