Govt. moves closer to having former CB Governor extradited

• Extradition request reached Singaporean authorities yesterday
• SL HC in S’pore handed over 21,000-page dossier
• Singaporean citizen Mahendran is an accused in CB bond scam

The Government moved one step closer to having Central Bank former Governor Arjuna Mahendran extradited to Sri Lanka with the extradition request reaching the Singaporean authorities yesterday.

The extradition request was forwarded to the Government of Singapore for necessary action by the Sri Lankan High Commission in Singapore, an official of the Attorney General’s (AG) Department said. 

The 21,000 pages dossier pertaining to the extradition request was sent from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Colombo to the Sri Lanka High Commission in Singapore from where it was sent to the Singaporean authorities.

Mahendran, who is the former Governor of the Central Bank under whose tenure the bond scam took place, has been absconding since he was named an accused in the case. Indictments were filed against Mahendran, who is a Singapore citizen, and nine others before the Permanent High Court at Bar in June this year.

The High Court at Bar allowed the AG’s Department to proceed with the extradition request after it filed an affidavit in court explaining the reasons as to why a warrant should be issued against the Mahendran, who is the first accused in the case.

After the warrant was obtained from the Permanent High court at Bar, the AG’s Department compiled the dossier seeking the extradition request of the former CB Governor from Singapore so as to ensure he was present at the bond scam trial, AG Co-Ordinating Secretary Nishara Jayaratne said.