Sagala issues statement on arrest of Yoshitha

 Minister of Law and Order and Southern Development Sagala Ratnayake in a statement yesterday said that thorough scrutiny of company emails had uncovered the connection between former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s son Yoshitha and Carlton Sports Network (CSN), which is being probed by the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID).

The FCID commenced investigations on March 15, 2015 according to a complaint submitted by ‘Citizens for a Just Society’ to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) accusing the CSN of money laundering and misuse of state property. 

The Minister said 20 submissions have been made on the investigations to the court and the court’s advice has been obtained for investigations. The FCID has conducted the investigations according to the country’s criminal law.

Initially the FCID had investigated the initial capital of Rs 234 million raised to establish the CSN television channel, Minister Ratnayake said in his statement.

“It was uncovered that the initial number of shares of the company was 700,004 at a value of Rs 7 million. Investigations had revealed that the remaining capital was raised through fake transactions and illegal action carried out from a foreign country.”

The probe uncovered that a transaction of US$ 2.3 million through a company based in a foreign country was responsible for the remainder of the required initial capital, the minister said. 

The FCID investigations have reached the conclusion that the initial capital was raised with money obtained through money laundering, he said. 

According to company documents, all shareholders are initial directors and they include Rohan Weliwita, Kavishan Dissanayake, Ravinath Fernando  and Shadiya Karunajeewa.

Nishantha Ranatunga had operated as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company while upon examining the emails sent with regard to company transactions, it was uncovered that Navy Lieutenant Yoshitha Rajapaksa operated as the Chairman and main decision maker of the company, Ratnayake said. 

He further said that the statements given by the suspects have failed to prove their innocence. Minister Ratnayake expressed the belief that arrest and subsequent court action will ensure proper investigation.

Investigations have also revealed the suspects involvement in preparing fake documents, criminal breach of trust, violation of the Customs Act and the violation of the Companies Act.

The Minister said that indictments are to be presented to the Attorney General (AG) to file a case with the High Court after all investigations are completed. 

Minister Ratnayake assured that this information was obtained from the Police reports. He said as per the election manifesto, the Government will ensure independence of judiciary and the President, Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers or any government officials will not interfere in the due process.