Former Central Bank Governor Arjun Mahendran, who has been avoiding appearing before court in connection with the Central Bank bond scam case, has changed his legal name to Harjan Alexander, Minister of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs Ananda Wijepala said.
The Minister said this has been confirmed by information received by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). He also said that Arjun Mahendran is a Singaporean citizen and that, under Singaporean law, a Singaporean citizen cannot be extradited to another country.
Therefore, the Minister said the government is taking steps to bring Mahendran back to Sri Lanka through another legal method.
However, the Minister said the bond scam case is still being heard in court and many facts are being revealed through the proceedings. He added that the government has not given up on bringing Mahendran back to Sri Lanka and is continuing to take the necessary steps.
The Minister made these comments during a television interview.
The case filed over the 2015 Central Bank bond scam, which allegedly caused a loss of more than Rs. 10 billion to the government, has been ordered to be called again on October 30 by Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama.