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Bribery Commission receives over 300 complaints
Out of over 300 complaints received by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption 47 cases are major corruption 
allegations. Preliminary investigations on all complaints received have started while action is now being taken on complaints received before the election. Passports of a number of VIPs have been impounded in rapid succession.
The major complaints received by the commission are against politicians and high ranking officials of the previous government, Bribery Commission Director General (DG) Ganesh Dharmawardana said.
This week passports of former Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Gem and Jewellery Authority Chairman Anil Koswatte and Tourism Promotion Bureau Managing Director Rumy Jauffer were impounded. A total of five persons’ passports have been impounded so far.
The move to stamp a ban on former Minister Aluthgamage’s and Mr. Koswatte’s travels was as a result of an ongoing investigation filed before the Presidential elections.
“There was no likelihood of their leaving the country before this, as they were part of the previous government. But now there is. So we have taken action,” Mr. Dharmawardana said.
A case has been filed in court against the former Chairman of Lotteries Board and Sarana Gunawardana, a deputy minister in the previous government. This case too is with reference to a complaint made prior to the January 2015 election. He faces corruption allegations in amounts totalling to Rs.36.5 million.
Investigations have been going on contrary to the claims of some politicians, claimed Mr. Dharmawardana.
“If not we won’t be able to take the action we are taking now” he added.
Officers of the commission have been able to record a statement from Deputy Minister Ranjan Ramanayake who filed a general corruption complaint against 38 ministers and high officials of the former government.
According to the DG, investigations can be taken only against six of the 38 individuals named.
In his complaint Mr. Ramanayake has failed to provide sufficient evidence to support the claims regarding the rest of the individuals in the list.
This week the Deputy Minister of Policy Planning Dr. Harsha de Silva filed a complaint regarding irregularities in the Ceylinco Company sale after the collapse of the company. He alleged that the deal was suspect and pointed out that there was a bid for Rs. 7.5 billion to take over the company, where the money was to be used to pay the depositors, but only Rs. 357 million had been repaid so far. Raising questions about what happened to the money and who the actual buyers were, Dr. de Silva claimed the company which clinched the deal was valued at Rs. 50 only at the time of the sale.
He also said he would immediately look into the issue of lack of resources and cadre in the Bribery Commission. The issue has been highlighted by the Sunday Times in our previous reporting.
Meanwhile the Anti Corruption Front set up by the Jathika Hela Urumaya to collect information on different corruption and bribery attempts, this week filed five more complaints of corruption with the Bribery Commission. One such case was on the alleged corruption charges against the administration of the Temple of the Tooth, another against the Kandy District Secretary, while complaints have also been filed against top officials in the Employees Trust Fund. The group has filed 10 cases against VIPs individuals and officials of the previous government.
The front has so far received over 2,000 complaints, which have been broadly categorised under five different heads. The majority of the complaints received have been on alleged corruption incidents in State financial institutions, while complaints against alleged bribe taking by ministers and officials, and complaints against the former President and his family members also top the list. The group has also received complaints against sexual favours being demanded in return for granting requests and involvement of Army personnel in election work, spokesperson for the Front said.