economynext.com
ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s President Secretary P B Jayasundera has urged a police probe following a media report which alleged that he had influenced a state bank to open a bank account linked to fertilizer imports from India.
“The Secretary to the President has informed the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to summon all relevant parties and conduct a formal and comprehensive investigation into the newspaper report immediately,” the President’s media office said in a statement.
Sri Lanka’s Aruna newspaper said in its weekend edition two individuals had opened a foreign exchange account in the City Brand of state-run People’s Bank around the time a batch of liquid fertilizer from India was paid for.
Sri Lanka has banned chemical fertilizer and was importing different types of fertilizer through various parties.
The report alleged that the bank had been influenced to open the bank account despite problems with documentation and later it had been credited with 1.2 million dollars linked to the fertilizer deal.
The account holders had then asked for a part of the money to be cashed into rupees.
The PMD statement said Jayasundera had denied the allegations and said the report was not correct. (Colombo/Oct23/2021)
