Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa, who has been named a suspect in a case filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act over financial transactions allegedly linked to the Airbus aircraft procurement process, was further remanded until 23 September by the Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court yesterday (16).
Rajapaksa was produced before Colombo Fort Magistrate Pasan Amarasinghe in connection with an investigation conducted by the Criminal Investigation Department into alleged financial irregularities surrounding the purchase of Airbus aircraft for SriLankan Airlines. He has been named the fourth suspect in the case.
Making submissions before court, Deputy Solicitor General Janaka Bandara said the investigation centred on an alleged payment of USD 2 million linked to the procurement of the aircraft.
He said the case had been instituted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and presented details of financial transactions reportedly uncovered during the investigation.
According to the Deputy Solicitor General, the alleged USD 2 million payment connected to the Airbus deal had been credited to the bank account of a Singapore-based company named “Biz Solution”, owned by a woman identified as Priyanka Niyomali Wijenayake.
Of that amount, USD 1 million had allegedly been transferred to an Australian bank account belonging to former SriLankan Airlines Chief Executive Officer Kapila Chandrasena.
A further Rs. 25 million had allegedly been transferred to a Singapore-based company named “SL Agro” and subsequently credited to an account belonging to Shamindra Rajapaksa, another suspect in the case.
The court was also told that USD 800,000 had been transferred from the Biz Solution account to an account belonging to an Australia-based company named “Saver Vision”, owned by Nimal Perera.
According to the Deputy Solicitor General, Perera had stated in a statement and an affidavit submitted to the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption that Rs. 100 million from those funds had been given to Namal Rajapaksa. The prosecution presented this as a finding of the investigation.
The court was further informed that Airbus officials had visited Sri Lanka and provided statements to both CIABOC and the CID regarding the alleged transactions.
The Deputy Solicitor General said forensic examinations had also been conducted and that an analysis of emails had allegedly revealed links between Namal Rajapaksa and Airbus officials.
Opposing bail, the prosecution argued that the investigation remained ongoing and that there was a risk of witnesses being influenced if Rajapaksa were released.
President’s Counsel Anil Silva, appearing for Rajapaksa, rejected the prosecution’s claims and sought bail for his client.
He argued that Rajapaksa was actively engaged in Sri Lankan politics and that it could not therefore be presumed that he would flee the country.
The defence also said no material had been presented to establish that Rajapaksa had attempted to evade court or influence witnesses.
Silva argued that, since the money had been credited to Nimal Perera’s account, the easiest claim for Perera to make was that it had been handed over to Namal Rajapaksa. He accordingly requested that his client be released on bail.
After considering submissions from both sides, Magistrate Amarasinghe announced that the ruling on Rajapaksa’s bail application would be delivered on 23 September.
Rajapaksa was ordered to remain in remand custody until that date.
