Bribery case against President’s ex-Chief of Staff to be heard from 9 August

By Manopriya Gunasekera 

The case filed against President Maithripala Sirisena’s former Chief of Staff and former Head of the State Timber Corporation for taking a bribe of Rs. 20 million from an Indian investor will be heard from 9 August, the Special High Court trial-at-bar decided yesterday.    

The two accused, President’s former Chief of Staff I.H.K Mahanama and former State Timber Corporation Chairman P. Dissanayake were indicted earlier this month by the Commission to Investigate into Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) for accepting a bribe of Rs. 20 million and for soliciting Rs. 540 million from the Indian investor who was interested in acquiring the Kantale Sugar Factory under an agreement with the Board of Investment (BOI).

The indictments were served to the two accused and they were released on a cash bail of Rs. 500,000 with three sureties for Rs. 1 million on each surety by the three Special High Court Trial-at-Bar Judges Sampath Abeykoon, Sampath Wijeratna and Champa Janaki Rajaratna.