{"id":43434,"date":"2015-10-11T17:45:58","date_gmt":"2015-10-11T21:45:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=43434"},"modified":"2015-10-11T17:45:17","modified_gmt":"2015-10-11T21:45:17","slug":"sri-lanka-govt-seeks-legal-freeze-of-former-vvips-politician-sons-bank-acct-in-west-asian-capital-with-500-million-us-dollars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=43434","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lanka Govt Seeks Legal Freeze of Former VVIP\u2019s Politician Son\u2019s Bank Acct with 500 Million US Dollars in West Asian Capital"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nA landmark event in a West Asian capital will play out today (Oct 11th) and it will send shockwaves around Sri Lanka. This is when a court there hears a case where lawyers for Sri Lanka Government are seeking an order to freeze nearly a half a billion dollars in a bank account. It has been established that this account is in the name of a young politician, the son of a former VVIP. It has also been established that there was well over a billion US dollars when information was first received about this account. The politician in question had transferred a big part of the funds to a bank in an eastern European country. Reports that a close relative helped in the transfer of funds there are now being probed.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the event the Government\u2019s efforts do not prove to be successful today, an official source said, \u201cWe are hopeful but have other options too\u201d. He added \u201cwe cannot discuss them now.\u201d The West Asian country in question has rigid banking laws to protect customers but it is receptive to initiating action, if proof is provided that such funds have been obtained through illegal and criminal means.<\/p>\n

When the case was taken up the previous Thursday, the Judge who heard submissions summoned that country\u2019s Attorney General. He had sought his opinion whilst listing the case for today. If the court, which sits on a Sunday, being an Islamic country, agrees to the Sri Lanka Government\u2019s request, the move would be viewed by Government leaders not only as a major victory in their anti-corruption drive.
\nMore importantly, that would come as conclusive proof that the country\u2019s wealth has been unabashedly looted by a handful in the previous administration and the monies deposited in foreign banks. Lawyers representing the Sri Lanka Government have been \u201cadequately\u201d briefed how the monies in question have been amassed. Government leaders believe the evidence they have placed before court is sufficient grounds to first freeze funds remaining in the account.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This is to buy itself time to prevent further draining of monies and also to obtain time to produce more evidence that criminal acts were committed in amassing those funds. A source familiar with these developments said, \u201cThe breakthrough we have achieved is only a tip of the iceberg. There are others who have similarly plundered the State wealth and amassed vast sums of money in foreign countries. We are on their tracks but for obvious reasons more cannot be said.\u201d<\/p>\n

A close associate of the VVIP \u2014 who was himself under investigation \u2014 as reported earlier in the Sunday Times is learnt to have revealed the existence of the undisclosed account. Independent confirmation has also come from United States investigative agencies which wield considerable clout in West Asian countries. They are learnt to be monitoring developments. Among them are the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Justice (DoJ). Another case where the US Department of Justice has provided detailed information is about the sale of the new Sri Lanka Embassy premises at 2148, Wyoming Avenue, NW, Washington DC and the purchase of a new building at 3025 Whitehaven Street. It is alleged that a top Sri Lankan diplomat there made fat commissions on the transaction.<\/p>\n

The cost was in the region of US$ six million plus and then another US$ one million to convert eight bedrooms in the newpremises into offices. Now, the Government is unsure what to do with the old premises. It is said to be one of the biggest diplomatic scandals in the US in recent times. Documents to confirm the allegation have been given to the Government. The diplomat had reportedly placed the blame on the embassy\u2019s accountant who has in turn accused this top diplomat of embezzlement. US Secretary of State John Kerry, during a visit to Colombo in May last year, assured Sri Lanka that President Obama\u2019s administration would extend full support to trace hidden assets of leaders of the previous Government. Since then agents from different agencies have been visiting Sri Lanka frequently to interact with their local counterparts. During his visit to New York to attend the 70th anniversary sessions of the UN General Assembly, President Sirisena thanked US authorities for all their support and co-operation.<\/p>\n

A successful verdict in favour of Sri Lanka in today\u2019s case in the West Asian capital would no doubt be a signal honour for President Sirisena and other Government leaders engaged in the initiative. There is no gainsaying that there is an urgent need to address other mounting domestic issues. More so when there is still public confidence in the Government and the credibility of leaders of the previous administration have crumbled due to their misdeeds.<\/p>\n

Courtesy:Sunday Times<\/em><\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A landmark event in a West Asian capital will play out today (Oct 11th) and it will send shockwaves around Sri Lanka. This is when a court there hears a case where lawyers for Sri Lanka Government are seeking an order to freeze nearly a half a billion dollars in a bank account. It has …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Sri Lanka Govt Seeks Legal Freeze of Former VVIP\u2019s Politician Son\u2019s Bank Acct with 500 Million US Dollars in West Asian Capital’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43434"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=43434"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43434\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43451,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43434\/revisions\/43451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=43434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=43434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=43434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}