The Bribery Commission’s investigation into remanded MP Chamara Sampath Dassanayake has been suspended due to a statement made to the media by former President Ranil Wickremesinghe, the Sunday Times newspaper reports.
When Chamara Sampath Dassanayake was the Chief Minister of the Uva Provincial Council, he was arrested by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption for causing a loss of millions to the government by withdrawing funds from several fixed deposits held by the provincial council in a state bank before maturity, and was remanded by the court.
However, former President Ranil Wickremesinghe, in a statement to the media, stated that the incident in question occurred when he was the Prime Minister and that Chamara Sampath Dassanayake obtained the relevant funds in accordance with a circular issued by the Treasury Secretary with the approval of the then President Maithripala Sirisena.
The circular stated that provincial council funds cannot be deposited in fixed deposit accounts and that both government funds and other allocated funds must be spent within the same year.
The circular also stated that if this is not done, the funds must be returned to the Ministry of Finance or the relevant Provincial Council Ministry, the former President said in a statement.