Two men have been sentenced to two years’ rigorous imprisonment for accepting money to stand as bail sureties and submitting a forged affidavit to court, in a case brought by the Colombo Fraud Investigation Bureau.
Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama handed down the sentences on Wednesday against Hussein Mohamed and Hasith Mohamed, both of Sanchi Arachchiwatta in Colombo, Daily Mirror reported.
The charges
The two were convicted after a lengthy trial on charges of accepting money to sign bail, submitting forged documents to court, and aiding and abetting the offences. Daily Mirror reported the bail had been offered for an Indian national; the charges as described referred to the beneficiary only as an unidentified person.
The prosecution originated with a complaint from the Registrar of the court, who reported that the accused had filed a forged affidavit declaring they were prepared to furnish bail. The Fraud Investigation Bureau then instituted proceedings.
No counsel appeared for either accused. Both addressed the court from the dock asking that justice be done, and the first accused asked the Magistrate to take into account that he has a young child.
Officers of the Fraud Investigation Bureau prosecuting the case urged the maximum penalty, telling court that people who come forward to furnish bail for payment using forged documents should receive a sentence that serves as an example to society.
The Chief Magistrate ordered that the six months the two had already spent in remand custody be deducted from the two-year term.
Context
Standing surety in exchange for payment is an offence under the Bail Act No. 30 of 1997. The practice drew wider attention in May, when two men were remanded over Rs. 15,000 payments to act as guarantors for former SriLankan Airlines chief executive Kapila Chandrasena, and police widened that investigation into the broker network behind it. Those suspects were also residents of the same Hulftsdorp locality, near the Colombo courts complex, but the cases are separate — different accused, a different beneficiary and a different investigating unit.
