Explosive Bonds scam evidence

An anti-corruption group is saying it has explosive new evidence about the Bonds scam which will reveal who gave instructions to release loans to Perpetual Treasuries, those who received those instructions and who else was involved.

Voice Against Corruption (VAC) says they are in possession of a recording that contains evidence which they had received from overseas.

The recording they say is of a tele-conference between representatives of Perpetual Treasuries and two noted financial institutions.

According to the Convener of the VAC, Wasantha Samarasinghe, the participants in the conference are from the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) and two State banks, and they can be heard discussing the release of loans to Perpetual Treasuries. The conversation had taken place on 27 February 2015.

That was the day the CBSL accepted bids for ten times the advertised bonds at a higher than expected rate.

Samarasinghe, a Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna Provincial Councillor, was among those who first brought to light the massive deal that raised eyebrows in financial circles.

Samarasinghe says that at one stage in the conversation, one of the participants advises the others to ‘bring along a suicide capsule’ when they do the trade.

In October 2016, Parliament’s Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) investigated the bonds deal and recommended that legal action be taken against the perpetrators. However, President Maithripala Sirisena appointed a three-man Presidential Commission to probe the matter.

Evidence led before the Commission has revealed a complex web of contacts between politicians, businessmen and actors in the financial sector. Minister Ravi Karunanayake was forced to resign after it was revealed that Perpetual Treasuries had paid the rent for a luxury apartment he and his family occupied.