The F&G Company Ltd, a Central Bank registered finance company, has been directed by the Supreme Court to continue its functions and day-to-day activities without any interruptions to enable it to meet obligations to depositors. A 3-member member Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Shirani Thilakawardane on Friday vacated the interim order issued earlier against the company restraining its activities.
Depositors of the failed F&G filed a fundamental rights petition on April 27 in an attempt to get their money from the company through a court and Central Bank (CB) monitored payment plan. The Court also ordered the company which is now under the management of Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka to continue payment of interest to depositors. With regard to F&G Real Estate Company and F&G Property Developers, the court issued a directive to set up a special trust as proposed to the Colombo Magistrate Court to make repayments of depositors soon.
Meanwhile the Colombo Fort Magistrate's Court issued notice on Aravinda de Silva, former vice captain of the Sri Lanka cricket team and his sister Araliya de Silva over the alleged transfer of properties belonging to F&G Real Estate in their names by undervaluing the these properties to off set their money deposited with this company.
Deputy Solicitor General (DSG) Yasantha Kodagoda informed court that the investigations had revealed that De Silva and his sister had taken over a property of the company in lieu of the sum of Rs.110 million deposited by them in the company. The value of the property located in Colombo is around Rs.250 million. The DSG moved court to issue summons on de Silva his sister. Following this submission, Magistrate Gihan Pilapitiya accordingly issued notice returnable on November 3.
In another development an attempt to auction the F&G Property Developers headquarters building located at Sir Marcus Fernando Mawatha was restrained by the Colombo Chief Magistrate until the adjudication of the investigations into the criminal breach of trust and criminal misappropriation of deposits amounting to Rs 4.3 billion by the directors of F&G Property Developers. Seylan Bank has passed a board resolution recently to auction the property as the company had failed to settle an overdraft of around Rs 44 million.
Mr Kodagoda appearing for the State told the court that the company had purchased the concerned property for Rs.24 million and it had committed criminal breach of trust and criminal misappropriation of Rs 4.3 billion to its depositors, and in such a situation if the court allows the auction it would affect the cases before court. |
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