3 Ministers face corruption charges

Three ministers – Jeewan Kumaratunga, Jagath Pushpakumara, and S. M. Chandrasena—are facing legal action over alleged frauds and malpractice.Minister Jeewan Kumaratunga has been directed to appear in courts next month after he was implicated in a case of allegedly defaulting five youth seeking to migrate to Australia.

Notice has been issued for the minister and two others to appear before the Gangodawila Magistrate’s court on July 13. Five persons were allegedly defrauded about Rs. 1.4 million after they were promised that a passage would be arranged for them to travel to Australia under a programme arranged by the Sports ministry when Mr. Kumaratunga was the sports minister.

The order to include Mr. Kumaratunga as a respondent was given by Gangodawila Chief Magistrate Padmini Gunathilake when one of the suspects in the case told court that he obtained money from people to send them to Australia under the project “thousand jobs” which was carried out with the knowledge of the minister. The suspect, Indrakeerthi Sunil Dissanayaka, who had worked with some projects in the then Sports Ministry said he credited the money to the account of Sarath Upali Gunaratne who was involved in the particular project together with G.D. Prasanna, an officer of the project. Notice was issued on the minister and the two officers of the “thousand jobs” project, after taking into consideration the statement by the suspect who is already in custody.

The suspect had allegedly obtained Rs. 1.4 million from five people but didn’t provide them with jobs in Australia while also failing to return their money. Inspector S. Thilakeratne of the special crimes investigation bureau said the order was based on what the suspect told courts.

Minister Kumaratunga was in the centre of a controversy last year for being allegedly involved in a multi-billion rupee human smuggling scandal to Alaska in the US. The offices of the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs had been used to carry out the operation and the minister had acknowledged that he allowed two persons to use the ministry premises to provide employment to needy youth.

The CID was to record a statement from the minister regarding the job racket to Alaska, but eventually the statement was not recorded. In another case, the Sevanagala Sugar Industries in a fundamental rights petition to the Supreme Court on Monday charged that Nation Building Minister Jagath Pushpakumara had demanded through one of his associates Rs. 50 million as gratification to ensure the smooth functioning of its factory, warning that failure to make the payment would lead to damage and harm to the factory and the management.

The petition said that the minister named as the 4th respondent was directly involved in the disruption of the works at the company and was further involved in instigating violence against the employees of the company and the farmers in the area. It stated that due to the illegal acts of the several persons the operations of the factory were at a standstill and as such the farmers in the area were directly affected.

The petitioner said that three former employees of its company and an another employee of another company whose services had been suspended climbed on to the crane used in the processing of sugar cane and disturbed all works of the factory bringing production to a complete halt. The petition charged they were acting on the instructions of the minister.

It said that it made several complaints to Sevanagala Police but for extraneous reasons the OIC had failed to act on them. The petition said several persons, who were close associates of the minister had brutally assaulted the farmers who had arrived at the company, but the OIC failed and neglected to discharge his duties to safeguard the farmers and keep the peace.

The Petitioner stated that though several complaints were made by such aggrieved persons at the Sevanagala Police Station, no action whatsoever has been taken by the OIC. The Supreme Court after hearing the petition said minister Pushpakumara would be severely dealt with if he continued to disrupt the functioning of the sugar factory. It ordered the IGP to arrest the four persons in the crane and produced them before the Embilipitiya magistrate.

Meanwhile Colombo’s Chief Magistrate Sarojini Kusala Weerawardena directed CID on June 13 to probe the conduct of Minister S.M. Chandrasena with regard to the Mawilaru compensation fraud while questioning it as to why they arrested minor officials.

The CID had arrested only officials of the Agrarian Insurance Department for allegedly misappropriating Mawilaru funds recommended for farmers.