Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told the Parliament today that former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran did not flee the country like former Ambassador to Russia Udayanga Weeratunga did.

Mahendran left the coutry yesterday to attend a wedding, he added.

Wickremesinghe also hailed the COPE report as a victory for the government as it was a report against an institution under him.

However, a committee appointed by him in March 2015 had found Mahendran to be innocent of the bond scam. The COPE findings have undermined that report, indicating that it was a serious cover up.

The Central Bank was put under his ministry of Economic Development and Policy Implementation, after the January 2015 Presidential Election, removing it from the traditional control of the Finance Ministry. Mahendran, who is a protege of Wickremesinghe, was appointed in late January 2015.