By Shyam Nuwan Ganewatta and Sarath Dharmasena

Arjuna Mahendran admitted before the Presidential Commission of Inquiry probing the bond scams yesterday that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had asked him to accept the post of Governor of the Central Bank.

Mahendran, giving evidence before the Commission of Inquiry, said he thought it was on the evening of Jan 08, 2015 that he had been asked to accept the post by the Prime Minister.

Mahendran said so in response to questions posed by Senior Additional Solicitor General Dappula de Livera, PC.

De Livera, PC read out a statement made in Sinhala by former Central Bank Governor to the Bribery Commission on April 16, 2015. The statement read: “I was working in Dubai when I was contacted by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe over the phone on Jan 09, 2015 or a date close to that and asked whether I would like to work as the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.”

De Livera PC then translated the content of the statement into English. Mahendran admitted that the statement was true.Mahendran said Prime Minister Wickremesinghe had been known to him for a long time and that he thought the latter asked him to take over the Central Bank owing to experience in the banking sector.

Mahendran said that he had arrived in the country during the third week of January 2015 in response to the Prime Minister’s request and

and received the letter of appointment before assuming duties as the Governor of the Central Bank on the evening of Jan 26, 2015.

Prior to that post he had been working as the Chief Investor of a bank in Dubai, Mahendran said

Courtesy:The Island