Four private bank officials held in remand over an alleged scheme to move foreign currency out of Sri Lanka through front companies have been released on bail by Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama, Hiru News reported.
Each was released on a cash bail of Rs. 25,000 and two sureties of Rs. 1 million each. The court also ordered that the officials be prohibited from entering their respective banks — a restriction that keeps them out of the workplaces where the transfers are alleged to have been processed.
The principal suspect, described by Hiru as the racketeer Jeffrey Mohamed, and businessman Mohamed Infad were ordered remanded until October 1.
State Counsel Oswald Perera appeared for the Attorney General. The Financial Crimes Investigation Unit of the Criminal Investigation Department made submissions.
The figure does not match the earlier reporting
Hiru puts the case at US$80 million siphoned abroad through 36 front companies under the guise of importing goods.
The 36 companies match. The sum does not. When the same four officials were arrested in August and then further remanded, the Daily Mirror, NewsFirst, Daily FT and the Sunday Times all framed the case as an alleged US$1 billion outflow, built on the same 36 bogus companies registered in the names of eight people.
One reading fits both accounts. The per-suspect figures placed before court in August — roughly US$5.5 million, US$647,207, US$24.6 million and US$32 million — total about US$63 million. That is the same order of magnitude as US$80 million and nowhere near US$1 billion. Hiru’s figure may therefore describe the portion attributed to the four bank officials rather than the scheme as a whole. Hiru does not say so, and no outlet has reconciled the two numbers.
A separate caution: this is not the case in which a 34-year-old Maradana cosmetics trader was arrested on September 10 over an alleged US$80 million in illegal transfers. That inquiry involves 26 companies and 54 bank accounts. Two different cases now carry a US$80 million headline figure and an import cover story.
What the officials are alleged to have done
Investigators told the court in August that the four met Mohamed almost every Friday, filled out the overseas transfer applications themselves, and were paid between Rs. 30,000 and Rs. 100,000 a week, with one official said to have received about Rs. 1 million on a single occasion. Prosecutors said they failed to check whether the companies were legitimately registered before opening accounts for them, and that customs reports and supporting documents were forged.
Not reported
Hiru does not say which banks the four work for, on what grounds bail was granted after a month in remand, or whether the Attorney General opposed release. It does not explain Mohamed Infad’s role, or say whether he is the sixth suspect added to the file after the original arrests.
It does not state whether the four remain employed or suspended — the order barring them from bank premises implies they have not been dismissed. No verified outlet had matched the bail report at the time of writing.
