Former Minister Johnston Fernando has told the Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court, through his lawyers, that he is guilty of possessing a luxury vehicle brought into the country without payment of import taxes, and of tax evasion offences. The magistrate set 11 November for sentencing.
The plea was conveyed on Wednesday, the Daily Mirror reported at 2.18 p.m. Colombo time and NewsFirst reported at 3.21 p.m.
Both accounts are explicit that the position was conveyed through his lawyers rather than entered by the former minister in person.
The vehicle
The case concerns a BMW found parked at the car park of a star-class hotel in Colombo, NewsFirst reports. Investigators alleged the vehicle was unregistered and fitted with forged number plates, and that the taxes due on it had not been paid.
The Daily Mirror describes the same vehicle as having been found abandoned at a private hotel in Colombo. The two descriptions are compatible — a car left in a hotel car park and never reclaimed — and neither outlet contradicts the other on any checkable point.
The charges
NewsFirst sets out what the prosecution filed, which the Daily Mirror does not. The charges were brought under the Motor Traffic Act and cover three things:
- failure to register the vehicle
- use of fraudulent registration number plates
- evasion of taxes
What happens on 11 November
After considering the submissions, Colombo Fort Magistrate Pasan Amarasena ordered the case called on 11 November for sentencing.
The distinction matters for how this is read. Because the former minister has indicated a guilty plea, the November date is not a verdict hearing — there is no remaining question of guilt for the court to determine. It is a sentencing date. Ada Derana’s headline on the same proceedings described a “verdict due on Nov. 11”; NewsFirst’s account, which this report follows, states the case was called for sentencing.
The same magistrate, sitting at Fort on the same day, further remanded Sugeeshwara Bandara until 11 November in an unrelated case.
Context
Johnston Fernando, a former Trade Minister and SLPP parliamentarian, is facing several separate proceedings. This desk has recorded his arrest by the Bribery Commission over the Polgolla chairs procurement and his release on bail in that matter in September, an Appeal Court matter concerning the CWE in August, and the remanding of his secretary in the Sathosa case this month. The luxury vehicle case is distinct from all of them.
Not reported
Neither filing gives the value of the vehicle, the amount of tax alleged to be unpaid, the BMW’s model or year, or when it was found at the hotel. Neither says when the case was first filed, which agency conducted the investigation, or who the complainant is.
Neither reports whether the former minister was present in court, what sentence the prosecution will seek, or what penalties the three Motor Traffic Act counts carry. Neither says what becomes of the vehicle itself.
Corroborated — two verified newsrooms. NewsFirst carries the charges, the magistrate’s name, the sentencing date and the BMW identification; the Daily Mirror carries the abandonment detail. Ada Derana also filed, as news ID 250712, but its site has returned an HTTP 403 block to this desk for 48 consecutive days and it could not be dated or cited. Hiru News had not filed at the time of writing.