Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe today provided a statement to the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) regarding his remarks about the charges against MP Chamara Sampath Dassanayake’s on the alleged financial misappropriation while serving as Uva Chief Minister.
The former President flanked by his lawyers arrived at the Bribery Commission around 9,30 a.m. and left after about two hours.
A large number of journalist and photographers were present when the former President arrived and later left the premises.
The former President later in a special statement to the media explained about the statement he made to the Commission.
He said that according to the appropriation bill the government has specified on the expenses and nowhere it is stated that the funds can be kept in a fixed deposit.
He said the central government does not give permission to place funds in fixed deposits as only if the money allocated goes into the economy of the country the country progresses.
“If the money is placed in fixed deposits, how would the money go to the economy”, he questioned.
The former President said it was questionable to place the funds in a fixed deposit, without allowing it to flow into the economy of the country.
He said the Commission had questioned about his position and he had responded saying that if the position take was correct, action should be filed against the Treasury Secretary for not taking funds and giving them on a higher interest rate in Pettah.
He said as far as he was concerned, withdrawing the money from the fixed deposit was not the crime, but placing the funds in a fixed deposit was the crime.
The former President was initially requested to arrive at the Commission on April 17, but as his lawyers were not available the date was differed until today.
The Bribery Commission probe against Mp Dassanayake had ground to a halt following the media statement made by former President Wickremesinghe.
Mr. Dassanayake was arrested by the Bribery Commission on charges of causing a loss of Rs. 17.3 million to the state by withdrawing funds from several fixed deposit accounts of the Uva Provincial Council that had been maintained at a state bank prior to them reaching maturity when he was Chief Minister of the Uva Provincial Council in 2016.
Former President Wickremesinghe however, recently released a statement noting that the incident in question had taken place during the time he was Prime Minister, and that Mr Dassanayake had withdrawn the funds in line with a circular issued by the Treasury Secretary with the approval of then President Maithripala Sirisena, stating that Provincial Council funds could not be placed in fixed deposit accounts and that both government funds and other allocated funds must be spent within the same year or returned to the Ministry of Finance or the relevant Provincial Council ministry.
Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe leaves Bribery Commission By M.A.Pushpakumara
Former President Ranil Wickremesighe making a statement to the media. Mr Ronald Perera, PC also in the picture.
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