Details of an alleged foreign exchange fraud of $1.1 million by Ceylinco Shriram Ltd when purchasing a building for Ceylinco Real Estate Holdings LLC USA has been revealed to the Attorney General’s Department, the CID and the Foreign Ministry to take necessary action, AG’s Department sources said.
It is alleged that Hiran de Silva, Deputy Chief Executive Director, Ceylinco Shriram had wired the money to a US bank account held by US-based Ceylinco company without following exchange control regulations.
Meanwhile, Colombo Fort Magistrate Gihan Pilapitiya on Wednesday reserved his order on granting bail to five directors of Ceylinco Shriram for August 10. The magistrate directed the CID to record the statement of Ceylinco Chairman Lalith Kotelawala at the Welikada Prisons and further ordered Ceylinco Shriram to prepare an audit report from a reliable firm with the consent of the AG and the depositors of the concerned company. Kotelawala and five directors - Hiran de Silva, Daniel Jegasothy, Rajeeva Wijetunge, P.K. Karunanayake and A.D. Jayatissa are in remand prison for allegedly defrauding the depositors of the company for Rs.7 billion.
Outside court, a large number of aggrieved depositors staged a protest demonstration demanding the Shriram authorities to repay their money before the commencement of the hearing. They told the Sunday Times FT that most of the depositors are middle income earners and some of them had deposited their EPF and ETF money after their retirement. |
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