GK depositors rejoice over new payment plan
Disgruntled depositors of the collapsed Golden Key Credit Card Company were overjoyed when Deputy Solicitor General (DSG) Viraj Dayaratna appearing on behalf of the Attorney General conveyed to the Supreme Court on Thursday the government’s decision to repay 41 per cent of their deposits in cash, upfront.
The repayment will be made in three phases, he told the 5-judge bench headed by Chief Justice K. Sripavan when the GK Fundamental Rights case was taken up for hearing. The government will be using a facility of Rs. 8.5 billion from the Central Bank (CB)’s Sri Lanka Deposit Insurance Fund (SLDIF) to implement the repayment process till the process of selling GK assets begins.
According to the plan by Ranil Wickremesinghe, Prime Minister and Minister of Policy Planning and Economic Affairs approved by the cabinet of ministers on Wednesday, the depositors who are owed upto Rs. 2 million will be paid 41 percent of their money within a month.
Further repayments will be made after liquidating the GK assets, he disclosed. The court considering the submissions of the DSG directed him to submit the cabinet decision at the next hearing on June 25. Depositors with GK deposits up to Rs.10 million will get their 41 per cent repayment within two months and monies of other depositors will be settled within one year.
A total sum of Rs.2.1 billion has already been paid to depositors under four phases of the previous action plan devised by the CB.
Dushanthi Hapugoda, President, All GK Depositors’ Association told the Business Times that they welcomed the new plan on the instructions of Minister Ravi Karunanayake.
However she said the DSG informed court that only the assets of GK Company and its subsidiaries will be sold under the repayment plan. Not being able to dispose of the personnel assets of former GK directors including former chairman Lalith Kotelawala and Sicille Kotelawala is highly unjustifiable, she said.
Former directors were responsible for the downfall of the company and they should not be allowed to go free without punishment for the white collar crime committed by them, she emphasised.
In another development the Colombo High Court this week ordered the Interpol unit at the police to file a report on the progress of the ‘Red Notice’ previously issued for the arrest of Sicille Kotelawala, wife of Lalith Kotelawala. On-the-run Ms. Kotelawala has been legally living in the UK since 2009, after fleeing Sri Lanka, the court was informed some time ago by the CID.