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Police seek Interpol assistance in Gammanpila forgery case
Mr. Gammanpila was remanded last Saturday. Pic by Gayan Amarasekera
Police is seeking Interpol assistance to question two Australian nationals who reportedly signed as witnesses to a forged affidavit allegedly used by UPFA MP Udaya Gammanpila to sell shares held in a local bank by an Australian company.
The police Special Investigations Unit (SIU) will either request the witnesses to personally call over to record their statements or, use skype facilities to record their statements, said an officer involved in the investigations.
The SIU has already questioned a local lawyer who had certified the Power of Attorney (PoA) of Mr Gammanpila. by the company, Digitial Nominees (Pty) Ltd based in Western Australia. The local lawyer had given an affidavit stating that the PoA dated April 18, 1997, was certified after perusing the original and the photocopy.
The PoA had allegedly been used for the sale of 4.1 million shares.
Mr. Gammanpila was arrested last Saturday and remanded by Fort Magistrate Lanka Jayaratna.
The SIU informed the magistrate that the directors of the Australian company were Brian Shaddick and his wife. They said investigations had revealed that Mr. Gammanpila was directly linked to the sale of the shares.
However, Kalinga Indatissa, P.C., appearing on behalf of Mr. Gammanpila, told the Magistrate the PoA was not forged as claimed by the police.
Meanwhile, Mr Gammanpila has filed a Fundamental Rights Petition against his arrest.