Deputy Minister of Social Empowerment, Ranjan Ramanayake said following the Right to Information (RTI) application filed by him requesting the relevant authorities to provide the details of 118 persons who have obtained money from the Perpetual Treasuries, he has already received information on 50 to 75 percent of them.
The Deputy Minister told the Sunday Observer yesterday that he would resort to legal action when he gets the full information pertaining to these financial transactions.
According to Ramanayake, Perpetual Treasuries owner Arjun Aloysius had disbursed Rs.1.7 billion among these 118 persons including former Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara. There may be people who had obtained Rs.10 million, 20 million and 30 million also. Among those are of course persons with Rs. 1 million or less plus non-cash donations such as houses and vehicles, he said.
Rejecting outright the claim that MP Dayasiri Jayasekara’s name was exposed as he quit the Government along with another 15 SLFP MPs, Deputy Minister Ramanayake said this cannot be accepted as a valid reason. Citing an example, he pointed out as to how the National Unity Government removed UNP Colombo District MP and UNP Assistant Leader Ravi Karunanayake from his Finance ministerial portfolio a year ago.
Deputy Minister Ramanayake said once that Treasury bond scam was exposed, steps were taken to block Rs.12 billion funds and 26 accounts of the Perpetual Treasuries. The owner of the Perpetual Treasuries Arjun Aloysius and its CEO Kasun Palisena are still in remand custody. In addition, President’s Chief of Staff I.K.Mahanama along with P.Dissanayake who was heading the State Timber Corporation was also arrested for soliciting a bribe from an Indian investor. Former State Timber Corporation Chairman and former JVP MP Anurudhha Polgampola was arrested by CID detectives in connection with an alleged fraud.
“Therefore, nobody can find fault with the Government for not taking action against the wrongdoers. At present, the Government is progressively tracking down the crooks,” he said. .