A director of the National Youth Services Council was arrested on Wednesday by officers of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) over allegations that he caused a loss of Rs. 5.1 million to the government, Daily Mirror reported.
The officer holds the post of Director (Administration and Human Resource Management) at the council. Hiru News, which also reported the arrest, named him as Manula Chamal Perera. The Daily Mirror report did not name the suspect.
Two payments make up the figure
The allegations break into two separate payments, both drawn from council funds.
The larger is Rs. 3.8 million, which the suspect is accused of paying unlawfully to a third party by leasing a plot of land and a building in Samapura village in the Ampara District for the National Youth Services Council to use as government property.
The second is an unauthorised payment of Rs. 1.3 million for renovations to that building, made without obtaining formal approval from the council’s Board of Directors.
The two sums together account for the Rs. 5.1 million loss cited in the allegation.
Next step
The suspect is due to be produced before the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court.
Neither outlet reported a response from the suspect or from the National Youth Services Council, and no charges have yet been filed in court. An arrest by CIABOC is an investigative step, not a finding of guilt.
The National Youth Services Council is the state body responsible for youth clubs, vocational training and youth services programmes, operating under the ministry responsible for youth affairs.
