{"id":43569,"date":"2015-10-17T19:44:13","date_gmt":"2015-10-17T23:44:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=43569"},"modified":"2015-10-17T19:47:45","modified_gmt":"2015-10-17T23:47:45","slug":"dubai-court-refuses-to-freeze-bank-acct-in-dubai-national-bank-of-politico-son-of-sri-lankan-ex-vvip-as-sought-by-govt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=43569","title":{"rendered":"Dubai Court Refuses to Freeze Dubai National Bank Acct of Politico son of Sri Lankan Ex-VVIP as Sought by Sirisena Govt"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nIt was ten days before parliamentary elections on August 17 when news reached the highest levels of the Government about a secret account held by a young politician, the son of a former VVIP, at the Emirates National Bank of Dubai (NBD).<\/strong><\/p>\n

That was to cause considerable excitement. The prospect of obtaining the details and exposing it during the polls campaign, it was felt, would bolster tremendously the positions of both the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) under President Maithripala Sirisena and the United National Party (UNP) under Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. That was how the process to track down details of the account holder and pursue further action against him began in earnest.<\/p>\n

The man to whom that task went was Attorney J.C. Weliamuna, a human rights activist and former Executive Director of Transparency International (local chapter). He has been at the forefront of the Government\u2019s anti-corruption drive and plays multiple roles in other spheres. This week, he was virtual Government spokesman on the OISL findings of alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka. In the secret account case, he has been playing the role of a Sherlock Holmes, secretively of course, for the past many weeks. <\/p>\n

That is to bring to Sri Lanka the monies in the account or more importantly give both the SLFP and the UNP a lethal political weapon to smash a common enemy. After all, both sides had decided ahead of the elections, that they would together form a National Government.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Weliamuna\u2019s efforts to produce results before the polls failed. His probe into the workings of SriLankan Airlines, for which he was paid three million rupees, gave some negative details of the way the airline was managed. Yet, no one has been arraigned before courts on any of the findings. The report itself was the subject of some controversy with sections of Colombo\u2019s legal fraternity holding the view that it was \u201cmore sensational than a document with some legal basis\u201d for prosecution. The airline\u2019s management has merely passed on the findings to the Attorney General and left it there for further action. This report was sent both to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) for action.<\/p>\n

President Maithripala Sirisena gave Weliamuna official authority through a document to pursue the Dubai offshore account matter of the young politician. That proxy became his tool to deal with Dubai authorities. This was in addition to Sirisena making an appeal to the ruler of Dubai, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. As weeks passed, Weliamuna shuttled between Colombo and Dubai a number of times. His first task was to hire a legal firm to represent the Government of Sri Lanka. There is little doubt that involved payment. He was encouraged by the firm\u2019s assurances and conveyed them periodically to Government leaders.<\/p>\n

That included the firm\u2019s strong belief that it could \u201crecover and return\u201d to the Government of Sri Lanka through the courts in Dubai the monies in the account if there was proof it was obtained through criminal or illegal means. He was later joined in the effort by Dilrukshi Dias Wickremesinghe, in her capacity as a consultant to a different local organisation. <\/p>\n

Substantively she is the Director General of the Commission to Investigate Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC). The office she holds prevented her from working elsewhere for a fee. By then, multiple channels, including those revealed last week in these columns, had confirmed the existence of the account. Later, the identities of at least seven others, including the young politician\u2019s brother, holding similar accounts in the same bank became known.<\/p>\n

It has become a common practice among political parties to have their own informants or sources amidst their rivals. This is how different sides become privy of other\u2019s secret discussions or actions. Not surprisingly, the news that inquiries are under way reached a former VVIP. So much so, he raised issue with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe when he met him at a public event. The Premier, who related this to Government leaders, had been non-commital. Here again, it became clear that what Weliamuna thought he was doing secretly to get details of a young politician\u2019s offshore bank account in Dubai had already reached the ears of the former VVIP and his family. <\/p>\n

Thus, both sides to the issue were privy and the only side left out was the Sri Lankan public. That too at a time when they were complaining that despite assurances, for over a year, no action has been forthcoming against those who had looted the country\u2019s assets.<\/p>\n

The Government, over the weeks, received information that the young politician was transferring funds from his account to a bank in Ukraine. Unconfirmed reports also spoke of transfers made to Seychelles and the Bahamas. The amount remaining in the Dubai bank account which had stood at over a billion dollars had dwindled to a little over US 500 million. Before proceeding with other action, it was felt that the Government should move the law firm in Dubai to initiate legal measures to freeze this amount and thus prevent any further transfers.<\/p>\n

Then it wanted to go through a legal process of ensuring the funds were returned to Sri Lanka. The Dubai law firm moved towards that, and as revealed last week, the courts sought an opinion from the Attorney General there on Thursday (October 8).<\/p>\n

Thereafter, further hearings were fixed for October 11 or last Sunday. In Dubai, an Islamic state, this day is treated as the first day of the week. Friday and Saturdays are their holidays. Matters related to Dubai Courts and cases listed for hearing on Sundays and other working days could be verified from their website \u2013 www.dubaicourts.gov.ae\/ and clicking on the \u201cSessions Agenda.\u201d Yet, the case from Sri Lanka was not among them raising questions on whether it was a sitting open to public, or one in chambers. This is in view of secrecy provided to account holders.<\/p>\n

When the case came up for hearing last Sunday, a fact revealed exclusively in these columns last week, Attorney Weliamuna and Dilrukshi Dias Wickremesinghe were present together with lawyers of the firm hired by the Government. The duo had flown to Dubai the previous day for this assignment. There was some surprise when the Attorney General of that state produced a copy of the Sunday Times political commentary headlined \u201cCrucial Court Verdict on West Asian Secret Account of VVIP\u2019s son.\u201d <\/p>\n

By dusk on Sunday, the case was going on, Weliamuna was to phone Government VIPs to give them periodic updates. One of them privy to the conversations quoted him as saying that because of this publication the court may now transfer this \u2018criminal case\u2019 as a \u2018civil case.\u2019 How this conclusion was reached is unclear. An aide to one of the VIPs declared, \u201cIf that\u2019s true, when the media, for example, reports on a rape or a murder case, the judge would convert it to a civil case. How absurd?\u201d<\/p>\n

However, it did not take long for the exact reason to surface. The Judge turned down the request of the Government of Sri Lanka, through its law firm in Dubai, to freeze the funds in the account of the young politician. This was after strong objections were raised by the Attorney General of Dubai that the politician in question has not been convicted in Sri Lanka or a case filed against him in any court of law, or even investigations have not started. <\/p>\n

Hence, he argued that the request should be disallowed. It was an ex-parte hearing. The prime mover Attorney Weliamuna may not have given consideration to this aspect or felt it was not necessary. It is only now, post-facto that different options to initiate legal action locally are being considered. One is for a state body dealing with bribery and corruption related matters to interview the young politician with the objective of proceeding with legal action under local laws. Such an investigation is about to start, that too after a refusal by a Dubai court to freeze the account. <\/p>\n

This development begs the question whether the views of local banking experts or other professionals have been obtained.<\/p>\n

Weliamuna and his colleague in the exercise returned to Colombo on Tuesday. Many ministers expressed the view that the Government should shed some light into the Sunday Times (political commentary) revelations. They argued that it was they who were facing public criticism that despite promises made to the people both at the presidential and parliamentary elections, no one had been brought to book. This, they pointed out, was an opportunity for them to come out with at least a few details without naming anyone to convince the public that the Government was seriously following up on a case where vast amount of funds were held. President Sirisena, the Sunday Times learnt, telephoned Weliamuna to ask whether he could make available some details during a news conference.<\/p>\n

The one-time campaigner for transparency in Sri Lanka was not in favour. \u201cIt would hamper the case,\u201d he had replied. Many efforts to contact Weliamuna failed. He did not respond to e-mail or SMS messages either. His reluctance notwithstanding, official Government spokesperson Minister Rajitha Senaratne provided details at his briefing on Thursday. It came after the weekly ministerial meeting on Wednesday. Senaratne even took the credit for revealing in January the existence of these accounts and the amounts involved. He said he is the one who had laid it bare.<\/p>\n

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

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It was ten days before parliamentary elections on August 17 when news reached the highest levels of the Government about a secret account held by a young politician, the son of a former VVIP, at the Emirates National Bank of Dubai (NBD). That was to cause considerable excitement. The prospect of obtaining the details and …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Dubai Court Refuses to Freeze Dubai National Bank Acct of Politico son of Sri Lankan Ex-VVIP as Sought by Sirisena Govt’ »<\/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\/43569"}],"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=43569"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43572,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43569\/revisions\/43572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=43569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=43569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=43569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}