Former minister Bandula Gunawardena appeared before the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) on Friday morning in response to a summons, and gave a statement on a Cabinet paper he submitted in 2007.
Daily Mirror reported that Gunawardena was summoned to provide a statement regarding a memorandum placed before the Cabinet of Ministers in 2007, and that he attended and supplied the information investigators requested.
What the paper concerned
Daily Mirror did not identify the transaction behind the summons. Hiru News supplied that detail, reporting that the questioning relates to the investment of Rs. 90 million from the Registrar of Companies fund into another state company, and that the 2007 Cabinet memorandum Gunawardena submitted concerned that matter.
Neither outlet reported that any charge has been filed, and neither named the state company that received the funds. Giving a statement under summons is an investigative step, not a finding of wrongdoing.
Context
The appearance is the latest in a sustained run of CIABOC summonses issued to former officials and politicians. The commission took a statement from former Treasury Secretary P.B. Jayasundera in the Airbus matter on 1 October, and told Parliament’s Committee on Public Finance the same week that more than 34,000 asset declarations had been filed late.
Gunawardena held a succession of Cabinet portfolios across Rajapaksa-era governments, including education, trade and transport, and served as Cabinet spokesman. This story will be updated as the investigation develops.
