Depositors of Golden key Credit Card Company (GK) have made the Central Bank a respondent along with Ceylinco Chairman Lalith Kotelawala and Golden Key (GK) directors, in a fresh application filed before the Supreme Court over the inaction to expedite the repayment process on a court directive, GK Depositors Association officials said.
But the Central Bank (CB) says that that they are facing a major obstacle in raising liquid cash to repay depositors of the failed company owing to complex transactions of assets declared by Mr Kotelawala and directors of the company. CB sources said that the total disclosed value of GK properties, and that of its subsidiaries and its directors, amounts to Rs.6.7 billion. But these assets cannot be sold immediately to find cash for the repayment of depositors as most of these assets have been re-mortgaged.
GK has taken measures to make repayments to 2,670 out of 9,200 at the rate of Rs. 100,000 each in accordance with the Supreme Court order, one source added.
According to the list of GK properties compiled by the CB the land and half completed hospital building at Kirimandala Mawatha valued at Rs.599 million has been under a primary mortgage for Rs. 697.5 million in favour of Seylan Bank. Investigations carried out by the CID and the CB revealed that there were no clear assets and properties in the list declared by Mr Kotelawala. He holds shares in 307 Ceylinco group companies and several other companies to the value of Rs.188.5 million while his wife, Sicille Kotelawala, has shares in 228 companies, worth Rs. 16.3 million.
The investigations carried out by the CB’s Exchange Control Department with the assistance of Interpol revealed that certain companies of the Ceylinco group have made investments overseas by establishing various types of companies in Singapore, Australia and Malaysia. The Department unearthed details of Ceylinco Consolidated International Pte Ltd incorporated in Singapore with net current assets at Singapore $ 4 million and cash and bank balances Singapore $ 206,507.
Outlining the present situation of the depositors, Anusha Emmert, President of the Golden Key Depositors' Association said that they are disheartened with the re-payment process. The compensation process for the depositors is not being properly conducted. She noted that no tangible action has been taken by the authorities including the CB and the 3-member Chartered Accountants Committee to find a redress for disgruntled depositors, even abter 18 months of the Ceylinco debacle.
Thus, she said, they were compelled to file a petition at the Supreme Court making the CB and the committee respondents along with Mr Kotelawala and GK directors. She expressed willingness to hold talks with Mr Kotelawala to find a redress for depositors as the state authorities have failed to solve their problem. She noted that the auditing process of GK’s accounts has not been completed and it is contrary to orders of the Supreme Court. Under these circumstances, how can the depositors keep faith in the CB? she asked .
Ms Emmert said that some interested parties are trying to buy Ceylinco assets taking advantage of the government valuation which is far less than the actual value. CBSL is acting more like a broker than a facilitator in this whole episode, she said.
Meanwhile the depositors on Tuesday staged a silence protest in front of the Supreme Court premises as the Court heard a Fundamental Rights (FR) petition against board members of the company. |
E-mail
