Perpetual Treasuries Limited (PTL) beneficiary owner Arjun Aloysius and CEO Kasun Palisena who were arrested by the CID over the Central Bank Bond scam, have been granted exceptional bail by Colombo Chief Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne after being in remand custody for more than eleven months.
They were also accused of allegedly aiding and abetting and conspiring with Arjuna Mahendran to misappropriate public funds worth of Rs. 688 million during the Bond auction held on February 27, 2015.
The Magistrate released the two suspects on cash bail of Rs. one million and four sureties of Rs. two million for each suspect.
The Magistrate also issued a travel ban on both suspects and ordered them to handover their passports to the Court Registrar.
The Magistrate ordered both suspects to appear before the CID between 9.00 and 12.00 p.m every Sunday.
The Magistrate also ordered that two of the guarantors of bail should be close relatives of the suspects and the other two guarantors of bail were instructed to submit evidence confirming their Gramasewaka certificates and copies of their National Identity Cards before the court.
On a previous occasion, President’s Counsel Anil Silva appearing on behalf of Arjuna Aloysius mentioned some health issues regarding his clients’ wife and his child. PC Silva stated that his client’s wife delivered her third child in Singapore.
PC Silva further stated that Arjun’s wife cannot take care of her three children without her husband’s help. His wife was also suffering from mental stress.
On the last occasion, Attorney-at-Law Jeewantha Jayathilake appearing on behalf of the Kasun Palisena stated that his client’s second child was a premature birth.
Attorney-at-Law Jayathilake also stated that there is a neurological disease in the child’s brain. The child needed treatment for this sickness, but his client’s wife cannot bear it alone.
Attorney-at-Law Jayathilake further stated that Kasun Palisena was the person who earned an income to take care of his family.
The Magistrate made this order after considering the children’s health situations of both suspects. The Magistrate stated that fathers should be with their children in their early childhood and take care of their children.
Delivering the second order, the Magistrate issued an order to clone the payment system of W.M.Mendis Company. The Magistrate also ordered to clone the payment system of W.M.Mendis company payment system in front of the OIC of the Digital Forensic Unit of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), two officials from the Government Analyst Department, Officials from IFS Company and relevant officials from the W.M.Mendis Company.
The Magistrate further ordered the CID protect the W.M.Mendis Company’s confidential details. The Magistrate also ordered the CID to seal the clone copies of the payment system of the W.M.Mendis Company after they receive and hand over a clone copies before the court.
Deputy Solicitor General Haripriya Jayasundara appearing on behalf of the Criminal Investigations Department informed the court that the Central Bank had not yet received payment voucher related to five subsidiary companies of Perpetual Treasuries Company Ltd.
The Magistrate ordered the CID to submit a detailed report regarding that issue on the next hearing day.
Both suspects were also granted bail, over the parallel magisterial inquiry conducted relating to the Bond issue on deleting phone call data from Perpetual Treasuries Ltd, the voice recording system and the alleged fabrication of evidence to the Bond Commission.
The Magistrate released the two suspects on cash bail of Rs.25,000 and two sureties of Rs.500,000 each. The Magistrate also issued a travel ban for both suspects and ordered to handover their passports before the Court Registrar.
Senior Deputy Solicitor General Haripriya Jayasundara and Senior State Counsel Udara Karunathilake and State Counsel Nadee Suwadurugoda appeared for the Attorney General.