FCID wants Entrust’s non-executive directors to turn state witnesses
The Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) has requested the under-fire Entrust Securities’ non-executive directorate to turn state witnesses in the prosecution against the company’s former executive directors, informed sources said.
Almost a year-long drama, it will be interesting to see how this unfolds. The FCID has had many meetings with the three non executive directors – Dr. Nalin Jayasuriya, Kishan Nanayakkara and Manohara Thilakawardena – and has decided to make this request, the sources told the Business Times.
The forensic audit conducted by the KPMG auditors under the aegis of the Central Bank (CB) identified eight other accounts that Entrust monies have gone into.
Certain transactions through the company have been routed to personal accounts of some top officials of which these details were handed to the CID. The CB took over the crisis-hit firm on January 5 and handed it to a management team from NSB after it was revealed that liabilities far exceeded assets.
In recent developments, the five executive directors of Entrust Securities including politically-connected Chanuka Ratwatte are facing misappropriation charges amounting to Rs. 4.2 billion belonging to investors. He was remanded and then released on bail. The other accused in this case are Dharmapriya Bandara Dassanayake, Romesha Dushanthi Senarath, Sanjeewa Dayaratne and Nirosha Mendis who were released on condition that they report to the police station once a month. Their passports were also impounded.