Lankan Govt. forfeits TRO funds
2008-11-18 17:02:41

A sum of approximately Rs 71 million lying to the credit of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) at the time its funds were frozen, has been forfeited by the state, the Central Bank said on Tuesday.

The Bank also warned the public against financial dealings with the TRO, generally perceived as an LTTE-front organisation

The TRO accounts were suspended in Sri Lanka in terms of the provisions of the Financial Transactions Reporting Act and the Convention on the Suppression of Terrorist Financing Act in August 2006. “Such suspension was carried out on the grounds that the large sums of money received by the TRO from time to time from international non-governmental organizations, individuals, foreign entities and TRO branches in several foreign locations, purporting to be funds for humanitarian projects in Sri Lanka, were, according to intelligence reports, mainly used to finance terrorist activities, and that the money, securities or credits which were lying to its credit were being used or intended to be used for such purposes,” the statement said.

Investigations are yet in progress to trace and forfeit any further funds and assets belonging to the TRO. “Accordingly, the general public is cautioned that they should not have any financial transactions or any other links with the TRO, or with any of its officers, since any involvement including any financial connection with a proscribed organization, is a criminal offence,” the Bank said.
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