No Bail for Namal Rajapaksa; Remanded Until September 29
The Colombo Magistrate’s Court yesterday (18) ordered that former Member of Parliament Namal Rajapaksa, who is currently in remand custody over corruption charges involving an alleged bribe of $800,000 (approx. Rs. 100 million) in connection with the purchase of Airbus aircraft for SriLankan Airlines, be further remanded until the 29th of this month.
Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama announced that the order regarding his bail application will also be delivered on the same date.
The decision was issued after considering the submissions made by Deputy Solicitor General Janaka Bandara, representing the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption, and President’s Counsel Shavindra Fernando, representing the suspect.
During the procurement of aircraft for SriLankan Airlines, a bribe amounting to €1,454,651.24 was credited to an account under ‘BIZ Solutions INC’ at Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore. From this amount, $800,000 was subsequently transferred into an account belonging to ‘Sabre Vision Holdings LTD’—a company owned by a Sri Lankan businessman—at OCBC Bank in Singapore.
It was revealed in court that Namal Rajapaksa had later received the equivalent amount in Sri Lankan Rupees, totaling Rs. 100 million, in cash from the said Sri Lankan businessman on several occasions during 2014 and 2015 as a bribe.
The court was further informed that the Sri Lankan businessman in question has already provided a full statement regarding these transactions.
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