An ongoing Criminal Investigation Department probe on the purchase of 250 "daylight" binoculars by the Sri Lanka Army is uncovering startling revelations.
In January 2007, the Army called for tenders. Seven suppliers registered with the Army, after conforming to qualifications laid down by it, made bids.
A three-member Evaluation Committee headed by Colonel K.M.D.A.A. de Silva and comprising Major S.A. Sirimannage and Captain W.A.K.J. Perera examined the bids. According to documents seen by the Sunday Times, they declared that only one company "complied with all specifications." Major General Mahesh Senanayake, who was then serving as Director Plans at Army Headquarters rejected all other offers and recommended the tender be awarded to this company. Thereafter, the Tender Board chaired by then Commander of the Army, Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka approved the recommendation.
Since then, the former Army Commander, promoted to the rank of General and appointed Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) has retired. He is now held in custody at an annexe at Navy Headquarters pending two separate General Court Martial inquiries. They will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday. Maj. Gen. Senanayake and five of his colleagues in the same rank have been sent on compulsory retirement from February 1 this year.
This deal would have passed off as any other transaction but for the fact that it involved Hicorp Private Limited. The key player in this local firm, which had another equivalent by the same name registered in the United States, detectives say, is Danuna Tillekeratne, the son-in-law of retired General Fonseka. Hicorp Private Limited, as the table on this page based on official documents shows, as representing British Borneo Defence, an Australian based company.
To convince the Sri Lanka Army that this company met with its qualifications to become a registered supplier, the CID has found, that Hicorp Private Limited produced a power of attorney from British Borneo Defence. This was for the period January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2010 and had asserted that Hicorp Private Limited was its authorised agent in Sri Lanka.
However, detectives say that British Borneo Defence had admitted to giving a power of attorney only for the period January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2010. Hence, Hicorp Private Limited had allegedly forged the documents to meet the Army requirement that for registration as a supplier. This, detectives say, was by altering the date January 1, 2008 to read as January 1, 2006. This, they allege, is a forgery and claim that Hi-Corp Private Limited was thus not qualified to make any bids to the Army.
A senior official of the Australia-based British Borneo Defence has said in a sworn affidavit to the CID that apart from the power of attorney for three years (i.e. 2008 to 2010), the company has not had any other dealings with Hicorp Private Limited. The company has said it neither exported equipment nor received any funds to the company accounts. The official has claimed that a purported letter from British Borneo Defence in Australia requesting the Army to remit funds for equipment supplied by it to an account in Texas, United States, is forged.
Detectives say this account is in the name of Hicorp International Incorporated, a company registered in the name of Danuna Tillekeratne and Ruwinda Gunaratne in the State of Oklahoma in the US. They say that only Danuna Tillekeratne was authorised to sign cheques on behalf of this company.
The CID has found that only 234 "daylight" binoculars were made available to the Army by Hicorp Private Limited though the exact amount was 250. This was in view of the budgetary limit placed on the Tender Board.
Documents seen by the Sunday Times reveal that Hicorp Private Limited received US $ 575.50 for a pair of "daylight" binoculars or Sri Lanka Rs. 64,945.18. Some of the offers the Army received, as the table compiled from documents show, is as low as US $ 96.12 or Rs 15,537.80. There were also offers that were much higher. In 2000, the Sri Lanka Army procured 675 units of "daylight" binoculars at US $ 110 each. Detectives say the binoculars in question did not arrive in Sri Lanka from Australia. Instead, they had been imported from another undisclosed source.
Hence, they want to ascertain whether the stocks were obtained at a much lower price than the quoted amount.
CID sources told the Sunday Times that Army officers involved in this transaction to the tune of more than Rs 24.9 million will be questioned. This is to ascertain how Hicorp Private Limited succeeded in obtaining registration with allegedly forged documents.
They also want to know how the Technical Evaluation Committee which recommended that the equipment be "properly inspected" before purchases were made failed to ascertain the source of origin. Another aspect is to discern why the Army failed to ascertain how Hicorp Private Limited won the tender through allegedly fraudulent means.
Retired General Fonseka has continued to insist that his son-in-law, Danuna Tillekeratne, had not been involved in any wrongdoing. He has accused the Government of "concocting allegations" against him and his family and vowed to fight them.
The CID's manhunt for Danuna Tillekeratne continues. The Colombo High Court has refused anticipatory bail for him. The Colombo Fort Magistrates Court has issued a warrant for his arrest. He continues to remain a fugitive from justice.
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