Former North Central Province Chief Minister S. M. Ranjith Samarakoon and his private secretary, Shanthi Chandrasena, have each been sentenced to 16 years of rigorous imprisonment over corruption charges filed by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC).
The Bribery Commission had filed indictments against S. M. Ranjith Samarakoon and Shanthi Chandrasena, the spouse of Minister S. M. Chandrasena, before the Colombo High Court for allegedly causing an unlawful loss to the government when obtaining a fuel allowance between 27 September 2012 and 31 December 2014. S. M. Ranjith Samarakoon is the brother of Minister of Lands S. M. Chandrasena.
The charges were filed under Section 70 of the Bribery Act, with the Bribery Commission alleging that S. M. Ranjith, while serving as Chief Minister, had allocated Rs. 2.68 million for fuel expenses for the official vehicle of his private secretary, despite her fuel allowance already being included in her salary.
The indictments were filed under five counts of Section 70 of the Bribery Act and Sections 113 and 102 of the Penal Code.
