A man alleged to have worked at a fuel station owned by former education minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam has been remanded until August 18 in the corruption case over the deployment of state-paid staff.
Deepal Sanjeewa Ratnayake was produced before Colombo Additional Magistrate Nuwan Kaushalya on Wednesday and ordered held, NewsFirst reported.
He was arrested by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption over allegations of aiding and abetting the misuse of employees recruited to the Presidential Secretariat, who were allegedly deployed instead for private and political activities.
Kariyawasam, who was arrested by CIABOC on August 5, was remanded until the same date in connection with the same matter.
The underlying allegation
CIABOC alleges that four people recruited to Kariyawasam’s official personal staff at the Presidential Secretariat, during his tenure as a senior adviser to then-President Ranil Wickremesinghe, did not perform the duties of those posts. Three were assigned to a fuel station he owns at Kuliyapitiya, the Commission has told court, while a fourth drew salary and allowances without being given duties at the office allocated to the position.
The salaries and allowances paid to the four total Rs. 2,768,836.14, which the Commission treats as a loss to the state and the basis of a corruption charge.
In submissions opposing bail for Kariyawasam this month, CIABOC said two of the four employees were overseas and that a third continued to work as manager of the fuel station. That employee had initially confirmed working at the station rather than at the adviser’s office, the Commission said, before submitting an affidavit giving what it called a contradictory account.
NewsFirst did not report whether Ratnayake is among the four employees named in the case against Kariyawasam.
Sources: NewsFirst.
