The Colombo High Court ruled on Thursday that legal proceedings against Yoshitha Rajapaksa can continue in a case concerning alleged money laundering of over Rs. 73 million, despite the release of co-accused Daisy Forrest on medical grounds, NewsFirst reported.
High Court Judge Udesh Ranatunga rejected a preliminary objection by the defence and clarified that Forrest’s release was a procedural step, not an acquittal. Forrest, Yoshitha’s grandmother and the second accused, was released after the court considered medical reports indicating she was not mentally fit to face trial. “Her release cannot be considered as an acquittal. It merely halts proceedings against her,” the judge said, adding there was no legal impediment to proceeding against Yoshitha under Section 194 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The court then ordered the indictment read in open court and Yoshitha pleaded not guilty.
Deputy Solicitor General Janaka Bandara opened the prosecution case, naming five land parcels the state intends to prove were unlawfully acquired between October 2012 and August 2013: a Rs. 35.99 million property at Sirimal Uyana, Ratmalana; a Rs. 4.5 million 12.04-perch plot and a Rs. 22.5 million property both at Dehiwala West Kawdana; and a Rs. 3.5 million and a Rs. 4.5 million plot, both on Mihindu Mawatha, Dehiwala. Four of the Attidiya/Kawdana plots are adjacent to a property belonging to Shiranthi Rajapaksa, Bandara told court.
Setting out the financial-incapacity argument, the prosecution told the court Forrest — born 1928 in Newburgh Estate, Ella — had worked as a kitchen employee at Suleiman Hospital and a hostel matron at St. Thomas’ College between 1976 and 1985 on a monthly salary of Rs. 2,300-7,300, and accumulated only Rs. 3,300 in EPF after leaving employment in 1986. “A person of this background would not have had the financial capacity to purchase properties valued at over Rs. 73 million.” Yoshitha, born 1983, was 25 when the land was acquired and holds over Rs. 7.5 million in a National Savings Bank account; as a public servant in the Navy he too lacked the financial capacity for the Rs. 73 million purchases, Bandara said.
Witnesses Madhuka Weerasinghe and Sanduni Asiri Pethiyagoda gave evidence on Thursday, confirming they had been appointed to manage Forrest’s assets after a Nugegoda District Court order but said they were not aware of the full extent of her assets, including a bag of gemstones the prosecution asked about. Further evidence is postponed until May 22. The trial follows the June postponement and earlier preliminary objections that had stretched the case for months.
