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CID to question Ratwatte friends

The one-time supremo who languished in remand for months is once again in trouble over millions of rupees worth of certificates of deposits found in the private bank vaults of his family. Mr. Ratwatte is seen pondering his next move as the CID prepares to file charges. Pic by Ishara S. Kodikara

By Tania Fernando
As a fresh crisis exploded over the alleged discovery of millions of rupees worth of certificates of deposit belonging to the Anuruddha Ratwatte family, the CID was in consultation with the Attorney General over the weekend on whether bribery and corruption charges could be framed against the former PA strongman.

Detectives said they were also considering whether to charge Mr. Ratwatte with obstructing the duties of a public officer after he allegedly intervened to stop their search in the safe deposit vaults of the Hatton National Bank at Kollupitiya on Wednesday.

They said the CID would be submitting a full report on Tuesday to the Colombo Fort magistrate who had issued the search warrant and further action would be taken after that.

They said the CID would also question some friends and relatives of Mr. Ratwatte after he claimed that some of the CDs had been given to him by friends and relatives, whom he named.

The detectives said that by Friday, they had recovered CDs to the value of Rs. 43.3 million from two vaults, while a third vault also had been searched and found to contain personal documents.

The CID is probing whether the ex-minister could be charged with bribery and corruption for not declaring the CDs to parliament as required under the Declaration of Assets Law, which requires all MPs to declare all assets belonging to them and their families.

The detectives said the CDs found in the vaults did not have names as was the case with all CDs but the charges would be based on the CDs being discovered in the vaults belonging to the Ratwatte family.

Gen. Ratwatte, who led the war effort for seven years, is strongly denying the charges and saying it is part of a malicious campaign to distract public attention at a time when the government is about to lift the ban on the LTTE.

The CID obtained a second warrant from the Magistrate on Thursday after Mr. Ratwatte had objected to their examining the contents of certain envelopes inside the vault.

The CID also sought warrants from the magistrate to search suspected Ratwatte vaults in other banks and to seal those vaults. They were given authority to do so but not the vault which contained personal documents. A person convicted of failure to declare his assets could face a jail term of upto seven years. (See related story)

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