The Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) informed the court that it would take steps to suspend the use of the Brownshill property in Matara, allegedly owned by former Minister Basil Rajapaksa.
The FCID had filed a case against Rajapaksa in the Matara Magistrate’s Court over the purchase of the approximately one-and-a-half-acre property on Eliyakanda Road, Brownshill.
Following his failure to appear before the court on several occasions, Matara Chief Magistrate Chathura Dissanayake had previously ordered the forfeiture of his bail money and the recovery of the bail amounts from his sureties.
The property was reported to be a coconut plantation previously owned by German national Herbert Keller. Rajapaksa allegedly purchased it for Rs. 60 million.
Rajapaksa entered politics as the private secretary to Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was elected as the Beliatta MP in 1970. He was also a close associate of Anura Bandaranaike, the only son of S.W.R.D. and Sirimavo Bandaranaike, who was once regarded in political circles as a potential successor to the party leadership.
Following the party’s heavy electoral defeat in 1977, Anura Bandaranaike and Maithripala Senanayake broke away from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party amid differences with former Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike and formed a separate party. Basil Rajapaksa served as its general secretary.
