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Aloysius’ W.M. Mendis back in business with new investor
W.M. Mendis & Co, whose accounts were frozen as part of Central Bank action against companies in the Perpetual Group of Companies, is back in operation again, reportedly with the assistance of an unnamed investor.
The liquor manufacturer is among 24 Perpetual Group companies whose bank accounts were frozen earlier this year by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL). In total, the operations of around 100 accounts remain suspended.
Meanwhile, a further B report filed into the magisterial inquiry over the Bond scam by the prosecution this week said that Kasun Palisena, Chief Executive Officer of Perpetual Treasuries Ltd, received Rs 63,570,274.61 in June 2015 and May 2016 as bonus and that there was evidence to say these were proceeds of the crime under investigation.
The report contained information on certain third party payments made by W.M. Mendis and Walt & Rowe, a company connected to Perpetual. One witness, Uswatte Liyanage Susil Anderson Perera, was employed as an agent at Certis Lanka Courier Services (Pvt) Ltd. He was seconded to handle W.M. Mendis’s documentation and bank affairs from May 15, 2017 onwards.
In his evidence, he said that while working in this capacity, he had cashed cheques amounting to Rs 10 million from an account in the Sampath Bank corporate branch belonging to W.M. Mendis on December 28, 2017. Afterwards he handed the money to Sujith Alwis, the Finance Manager of W.M. Mendis, in two black ‘tulip’ bags.
The witness said he saw Mr. Alwis hand over those bags to an occupant in the front passenger seat of a land cruiser jeep at the parking lot of the said bank. The same report informs court that one Herath Mudiyanselage Amila Kumara Herath gave evidence that Walt & Rowe issued a cheque with the number 566635 from its current account in Bank of Ceylon with the number 0073900773 on July 10, 2015 amounting to Rs 1mn. He claimed that, after cashing this cheque at the Bank of Ceylon branch on July 12, he handed over the money to Wayamba Province Chief Minister and current MP Dayasiri Jayasekera.
Mr Herath is a police officer attached to Mr Jayasekera’s security in 2015. Mr Jayasekera admitted this week that he took the money but said he had done nothing wrong.
He said he used the cash for his election campaign. He also said there were many others in Parliament who had taken money from Arjun Aloysius but declined to reveal names. He called on authorities to divulge their identities.
“The President’s Secretary has a list of 118 names of people who took money from Arjun Aloysius while investigations were being conducted into the bond scam,” he told the Sunday Times. “Why won’t they release that list?”
He said he couldn’t remember who gave him the cheque but that it was not written in his name. “I inquired about this but have no recollection of who gave it and who cashed it at the bank,” he insisted, adding that he did not know if Mr Aloysius had authorised it.
“I had no business dealings with Perpetual,” he said. “This happened on July 13, 2015, the date of nominations for the Parliamentary election. I was not a member of COPE (Committee on Public Enterprise) and I was in the Provincial Council as Chief Minster.”
“Geoff Aloysius [Arjun’s father] has been a very good friend of mine since 1998,” he continued. “I got to know Arjun much later, not more than 10-15 years. They supported me in the Provincial Council election and at the general election.”
“As I said in Parliament, I can’t actually remember that this cheque was given by Arjun,” he maintained. ‘He didn’t meet me. Normally, when I’m not in Colombo, some people call and say ‘I want to give you some money to support you’. I say, ‘Give it to a friend or something as I can’t come on that date’. That is what happens usually.”
“This was a cash cheque and I actually can’t remember who gave it,” Mr Jayasekera said. “Everyone comes and talks and gives money during elections. You can’t remember who gives money. I don’t write it down.”
He also insisted that, despite taking the money for his election campaign, he did not defend or speak on behalf of Mr Aloysius or his companies when the bond scam came to light. When he was approached for assistance, he reportedly said, “I can’t speak on this. I can’t protect you because you have been caught red-handed.”