Former Sri Lanka Air Force commander Roshan Goonetileke reported to the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) on Thursday morning to record a statement in the investigation into the MiG aircraft transaction, Hiru News and the Daily Mirror reported.
The Daily Mirror said his appearance followed a notice instructing him to present himself before the division at 9.30am, and that he was summoned to record a statement in connection with continuing inquiries into the transaction.
Neither outlet reports that he has been arrested, named a suspect or charged. Both describe the appearance as the recording of a statement.
The two outlets give him different ranks
Hiru News identifies him as Marshal of the Air Force Roshan Goonetileke. The Daily Mirror identifies him as Air Chief Marshal Roshan Goonetileke.
These are two distinct ranks — Marshal of the Air Force is the senior, a five-star appointment above Air Chief Marshal — and neither report explains the difference or says which applies. A retired officer promoted to the ceremonial rank after leaving the post would answer to both descriptions at different points in his career, but no outlet says so, and this account uses neither rank in preference to the other. NewsFirst’s later report uses Marshal of the Air Force, putting two of the three outlets on that form.
Update (September 10): NewsFirst supplies the missing background
A fuller NewsFirst report filed at 5.18pm sets out both the length of Thursday’s session and the substance of the transaction, neither of which the earlier reports carried.
Goonetileke gave his statement for more than five hours. Police told NewsFirst he arrived at about 9.30am and left at approximately 3.00pm.
What the MiG deal is
The transaction dates to 2006 and covered the purchase and refurbishment of MiG-27 fighter aircraft from Ukraine.
At the time, officials including then Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa maintained the acquisition was a direct government-to-government transaction with the Ukrainian state-owned enterprise Ukrinmash.
Later investigations found that millions of dollars paid by the Sri Lankan government had instead been routed through an intermediary, Bellimissa Holdings, registered in the British Virgin Islands. On findings the FCID subsequently presented to court, only part of the payment reached the Ukrainian state entity, while nearly US$7 million was allegedly misappropriated.
Investigators concluded, after a three-year inquiry, that the agreement entered into on 26 July 2006 was allegedly a fraudulent document. Air Force payments went to Bellimissa Holdings Limited, whose London presence, according to subsequent media investigations, consisted of a registered address, a desk and a chair. Funds the company received were later reported to have been moved to a secret account in the British Virgin Islands.
That fills in the figure behind the phrase “missing millions” in NewsFirst’s headline, and answers most of what the morning reports left open.
Still not explained
Even with the fuller account, no outlet says what position Goonetileke held in 2006, which is the fact that would explain the summons. None says why the FCID called him now, whether other former officers or officials have been summoned, what stage the investigation has reached, or whether any prosecution is contemplated. None reports that he has been arrested, named a suspect or charged, and none carries comment from him or his lawyers.
Filed together, but two separate inquiries
The Daily Mirror carried this story in the same article as the appearance of former royal astrologer Sumanadasa Abeygunawardena before the Bribery Commission, under a single headline.
The two are unconnected: different people, different agencies — the FCID in one case, the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption in the other — and different subject matter. Hiru News filed them as separate reports, and they are treated separately here.
