News
Immunoglobulin case: AG wants probe on Rs. 144.4mn money trail
The Attorney General’s Department has requested the Maligakanda Magistrate to order the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to investigate what happened to Rs. 144.4 million that was credited to a bank account of Isolez Biotech Pharma AG as payment for the counterfeit human immunoglobulin injections that it supplied the Health Ministry.
Deputy Solicitor General (DSG) Lakmini Girihagama told court that the money was withdrawn from the suspect’s account immediately after it was deposited. Magistrate Lochana Abeywickrama, having considered the matter, ordered the OIC of the Illegal Assets or Property Investigation Division to investigate who had withdrawn the money and what had happened to it, and to report to court on January 10, when the case next comes up.
Dramatic scenes unfolded at the Maligakanda Magistrate’s Court on Thursday when several suspects remanded in connection with counterfeit
immunoglobulin consignment bought by the Health Ministry accused former Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella in open court of being involved in the scam.
Attorney-at-Law Jaliya Samarasinghe, appearing for the first suspect, Sugath Janaka Fernando, the owner of Isolez Biotech Pharma, accused the CID of refusing to record a statement made by his client that implicated Mr. Rambukwella.
Counsel for the suspects also vehemently objected to the CID visiting the former Health Minister’s residence to record a statement from him. They contrasted it with what had happened to their clients, who were summoned to the CID to give statements and then arrested.
Magistrate Abeywickrama ordered the CID to follow a common approach when obtaining statements. She further granted a request made by the first suspect’s counsel for his client to make a fresh statement stating that he had acted according to the instructions of Mr. Rambukwella’s and the National Medicines Regulatory Authority’s (NMRA) former Chief Executive Officer, Vijith Gunasekara. Accordingly, she ordered the CID to visit the suspect in prison and to record a statement.
Making submissions for the prosecution, DSG Girihagama told court that the first suspect, Sugath Janaka Fernando, had no authorisation to manufacture the said injection but that he had taken steps to import chemicals and other tools needed for their manufacture without obtaining approval from the NMRA. She added that Sri Lanka Customs had still not furnished details as to who sanctioned the clearance of these items from Customs.
The magistrate ordered the Customs Director General to submit all documents related to the matter.
DSG Girihagama said it was problematic that medicines ordered through an Emergency Procurement Committee had arrived more than 10 months late and that this ran counter to the objective of emergency purchases. She stressed that the first suspect had no authority to produce such medicines.
Magistrate Abeywickrama remanded all suspects until January 10 and said that an order on their bail application would be given on that day. She also ordered the Cabinet Secretary to hand over to the CID three Cabinet Memorandums related to this matter referred to in Miniter Rambukwella’s statement.
She also ordered the Prisons Department to assist in ensuring that Mr. Fernando, the first suspect, attends a planned inspection visit by the CID to his pharmaceutical manufacturing plant next week.
In earlier written submissions made to the Court, Counsel Samarasinghe questioned the CID’s failure to detain Minister Keheliya Rambukwella and former Health Ministry Secretary Janaka Sri Chandraguptha (he has since been arrested and is also in remand custody) in connection with the immunoglobulin scam. This shows there was a “conspiracy” to conceal facts and protect kingpins, he said. It also evidenced that the investigation was not being conducted fairly and transparently, he claimed.
The failure to detain Mr. Rambukwella, Mr. Chandraguptha and all other officials involved in the crime and produce them in court is a violation of Section 56 of the Police Ordinance, and those authorities are in contempt of court, the counsel said.
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