President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday instructed the Attorney General and other relevant officials to proceed with legal action based on the Bond report and PRECIFAC reports.
The President met the Attorney General, Central Bank Governor, Commission to Investigation Allegations of Bribery or Corruption Director General and senior lawyers to discuss the progress of action taken by them to punish the culprits identified in the two reports.
The President’s Media Division issuing a press communiqué said initiating legal action against the responsible parties would be done by the AG and Bribery Commission based on Penal Code, Public Property Act, and Money Laundering Act etc.
“If investigations of the Commissions led to revelation of additional wrong doings, such persons will also be dealt with under the law.
“A special unit will be set up in the CID under the instructions of the AG to further investigate the financial crimes. It has been recommended to get the support of Central Bank’s Financial Intelligence Unit and Exchange Controller for the purpose.
“A forensic audit examination in the CB has also been recommended,” the release stated.
It further added an Amendment to the Civil Procedure Code is being contemplated to expedite legal actions to recover the loss to the Government.
“The AG has paid attention to hold the properties accumulated illegally by the Perpetual Treasuries and companies attached to it through Bond transactions.
“The AG will look into the possibility of passing a separate Act in Parliament to recover the loss to the Government and the EPF to avoid the delay in court procedure,” it further added.
“It was also recommended to hold a forensic audit examination on the EPF involvement in Treasury Bonds and Treasury Bills transactions from 2008-2014. New laws will be introduced to empower the CB to prevent repetition of similar incidents in the future,” it stated.
The release said the attention of the Speaker would be directed to take action against the COPE members who had communicated with PTL owner Arjun Aloysius while the COPE probe was in progress and impose a Code of Conduct for MPs functioning in the COPE.