Colombo, March 19 (newsin.asia) – Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, has faulted the Singapore government for sheltering one his former Central Bank Governors wanted in connection with a 72 million dollar trading scam, local media reports said here Tuesday.
Speaking at the launch of the National Action Plan to eradicate bribery and corruption in capital Colombo, Sirisena said he had appealed to Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in January to return former Central Bank Chief Arjuna Mahendran, who is believed to be in Singapore, but nothing had been done so far.
He said he had sought assistance from the Singaporean government to extradite Mahendran as he was named as a suspect by a special presidential commission who was investigating into the Bond Scam.
“They told me that since this was merely a political issue, there weren’t sufficient grounds to arrest the individual,” Sirisena said.
“However there is an arrest warrant locally and a red notice issued by Interpol against Mahendran. I am disappointed that the Singaporeans have been very indifferent about this matter. Either they should state publicly if this individual has left their country or is still residing there,” Sirisena quoted in local media reports said.
Mahendran was appointed as Sri Lanka’s Central Bank Governor in January 2015, before the alleged bond scam took place. Mahendran however resigned a year later.
A presidential commission probing the alleged scam in a report accused Mahendran of insider-trading and recommended the state recover its losses from him and his son-in-law, Arjuna Aloysius, who is also alleged to have been involved.
The Treasury is said to have lost about 72 million U.S. dollars due to the Treasury bond scam and other malpractices which was allegedly committed under the watch of Mahendran.
ADVERTISEMENT