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Priyamali and Bandara further remanded, but questions over delay in the arrest of key suspect
View(s):By Wasantha Ramanayake
Controversial businesswoman Thilini Priyamali, the main suspect in a high-profile swindling case, had withdrawn three billion rupees from January to June from her account, the Criminal Investigation Department told Colombo Fort magistrate court.
Given the complex nature of the complaints and existing cases against the suspect in magistrate and high courts, the CID moved to further remand the suspect to facilitate the investigations.
Accordingly, Colombo Fort Acting Magistrate Shalini Perera refused bail to the suspect and ordered that she be further remanded till November 2. The bail application was filed through Ms. Priyamali’s Counsel Dasun Nagashena.
Thilini Priyamali: Further remanded till November 2
The Magistrate observed the order was made to prevent any interference to both witnesses and investigators and to ensure a thorough investigation into the complex issues involved.
The CID told the court that it had recorded statements from four people who had been contacted by the suspect while in remand. To contact them she had used three mobile phones, which had been later taken into custody.
The CID told the Acting Magistrate that although mobile phone details and phone call recordings revealed that large sums of money had been swindled from well-known politicians, prominent figures, actors, and even clergy by the suspect, they are yet to complain.
Ms. Priyamali operated several companies but records show none of them had received any income, yet she had spent Rs. 41 million to meet overhead costs and Rs. 55 million on promotional activities.
The CID searched houses and business premises that belonged to her and recorded statements from employees of seven companies registered under the suspect’s Thico group of companies.
Vital information such as the whereabouts of more than three billion rupees that had been deposited with Ms. Priyamali and Thico group of companies would be known if Janaki Siriwardhana who has aided and abetted her in the scam, President’s Counsel Maithri Gunaratne, appearing for Anis Sattar, an aggrieved party, told the court.
Mr. Gunaratne pointed out that the CID’s failure to arrest Ms. Siriwardhana who had aided and abetted Ms. Priyamali to swindle some 226 million rupees from his client would hinder the investigations.
The magistrate also further remanded Ms. Priyamali’s business partner Isuru Bandara till November 02. After his arrest on Monday (17) by the CID, he was remanded till Wednesday (19). Ms. Priyamali was arrested on October 06 on charges of defrauding Rs. 225 million from a businessman. She has been in remand custody since then.
Meanwhile, the Western Province’s former Governor and National Unity Alliance leader Azath Salley said Ms. Siriwardene who had claimed to be the director and chief executive officer of Transworks Square (Pvt.) Ltd. met him and his friend on May 03 and introduced Ms. Priyamali to them. “Janaki told us that Thilini is ‘very well-known’ and had invested money all over the world,” Mr. Salley said.
He added that he and his friend were told that investments with her would bring ‘good returns’. “We were lured to invest money with Priyamali’s group of companies.”
He said he had invested Rs. 80 million while his friend invested Rs. 226 million rupees. “One of the doctors who has his office in the World Trade Centre had invested 750 million,” he claimed.
They had complained to the CID about the fraud in August. “That was the complaint which brought Thilini before the court,” he said, adding that they made the complaint to warn the people of the scam.
“The defrauded money is with Janaki, We have evidence,” Mr. Salley said, expressing concern over the delay in arresting her.
President’s Counsel Gunaratne told journalists that most of the people who had invested money with Ms. Priyamali did not want to complain as they did not want to be identified. Among them were politicians, film stars, professionals, and Buddhist monks, he said.
During the court hearing, it transpired that a prominent Buddhist monk was also a part of the scam.
Mr. Gunaratne said the monk is said to have advised people to invest with the suspect. It is said that the monk, during conversations with high-profile visitors to his temple, would suddenly go into a trance. He would tell them that their dead mothers or fathers were talking through him and wanted them to trust Ms. Priyamali and deposit their money with her.
The scam reached a peak during the Aragalaya trouble period when powerful political figures whom the suspects had cited as their investors were not available for the new victims to verify their claims.
The suspects promoted their business among the target customers pretending that they have a lot of ‘dollars’ that belonged to powerful political figures who wanted to launder their ‘black dollars’ which they could not take out of the country due to the crisis in the country, Mr. Gunaratne said.
He said the suspects would tell different stories to different targets to lure them into the scam. Some have been told that the money was invested in the importation of fuel.
Abdul Hassan Kamal Hassan, a wealthy businessman from Colombo, who claimed he was the first to complain about Ms. Priyamali to CID, shared his better experience with a popular YouTube channel.
He said Isuru Bandara spoke to him on several occasions before he introduced him to Ms. Priyamali. Later, she phoned Mr. Hassan to say that he could invest in a good cause that would bring him good returns. The businessman said Ms. Priyamali had claimed it was to pay for a crude oil shipment brought down by a businessman who had no money to clear it but the Treasury had promised him that he would be paid in two days.
Mr. Hassan said that as a service to the country, he was “kind enough” to give Ms. Priyamali 136.75 gold sovereigns (1080g) that belonged to his wife and daughters, 100,000 Australian dollars, and 60,000 US dollars. But the promised return did not come in two days and it took weeks for her to call him during the Aragalaya trouble times and say that a cheque had been deposited in his account. But when he checked with his bank, he found out she had told the bank to stop the payment.
The businessman also claimed that when he went to meet her and waited outside her World Trade Centre office, a police officer had threatened him that if he did not leave, he would be arrested. It was then that he realised he had been tricked and decided that he had to make a complaint to the CID.
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