The Sunday Times reports that the Bribery Commission’s investigation into MP Chamara Sampath Dassanayake has been halted due to a recent statement by former President Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Dassanayake, who was arrested and remanded for allegedly causing a loss of 17.3 million rupees to the government by withdrawing funds from fixed deposits of the Uva Provincial Council before maturity, is currently in remand custody.
Wickremesinghe stated that the incident occurred during his tenure as Prime Minister and that Dassanayake withdrew the funds based on a circular issued by the Treasury Secretary with the approval of then President Maithripala Sirisena. The circular stipulated that provincial council funds could not be deposited in fixed deposit accounts and that government and other allocated funds had to be spent within the same year.
The Bribery Commission had summoned Wickremesinghe to state the matter, but he informed them of his unavailability on the given date. The commission is expected to provide him with a new date.