The Joint Opposition today lodged a complaint at the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption, requesting an investigation against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran over the controversial Central Bank bond scam.

Wickremesinghe was the Minister of Economic Development and Policy Planning under which the Central Bank also operates, when the bond issue took place in February 2015.

The COPE last week recommended legal action against Mahendran and his son-in-law over the scam.

This report completely undermined an investigative report in 2015 by a three member team appointed by the Prime Minister, to investigate the allegation. This report did not implicate Mahendran over the bond scam. However, following the COPE report, suspicions have been raised that the 2015 report was a cover-up.

Mahendran, a Singapore citizen, is a protege of Wickremesinghe.