Thursday, 22 August 2013 00:42
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By Lakmal Sooriyagoda
The Colombo Fort Magistrate yesterday permitted the CID to question the son of the former CEO of Deyata Kirula National Exhibition 2013 regarding the Rs. 39 million fraud at the Deyata Kirula exhibition site in Ampara.
When the case came up before Colombo Fort Magistrate Thilina Gamage, the CID moved Court that its detectives be permitted to record a statement from the son of former CEO Kanthi Gunawardana at the CID headquarters. The CID alleged that the contract relating to the construction of temporary toilets had been given to her close relative by the former CEO without the approval of the Procurement and Technical Evaluation Committee (PTEC). The CID further alleged that the seventeen-year-old son of the former CEO had been named as the second owner of this construction company called Ransara constructions but not a single toilet had been constructed.
Meanwhile, the main suspect Kanthi Gunawardana the former CEO of Deyata Kirula National Exhibition 2013 was ordered to be further remanded till 28 August after taking into consideration the seriousness of the offence.
The CID alleged that a contract relating to the construction of temporary toilets had been given to the second suspect M.M. Sarath Chandra Ekanayake without the approval of the Procurement and Technical Evaluation Committee (PTEC) by the CEO of the Deyata Kirula National Exhibition 2013. He is currently out on bail.
The CID had submitted to Court that a complaint had been made in this regard by Telecommunications and Information Technology Ministry Secretary H.M. Gunasekara on 21 February regarding the alleged misappropriation amounting to Rs. 39 million.
In this case, the complainant alleged that the contract relating to the construction of temporary toilets had been given to a private company without the approval of the PTEC by the CEO of the Deyata Kirula Exhibition 2013 and thereby made an additional payment of Rs. 1.7 million to the contractor.
The complainant further alleged that the suspect had made other payments amounting to Rs. 12 million, Rs. 11 million and Rs. 255,000 for a reading room, a canteen and also for floral decorations respectively at the exhibition site.
