CB bond scam Mahendran, Cabraal should both be arrested, tried

• Calls for extradition of Mahendran from S’pore

By Yohan Perera 

Former Central Bank (CB) Governors Arjuna Mahendran and Ajith Nivard Cabraal should be arrested and tried in court as the forensic audit reveals that the bond scam had taken place from 2005 onwards and continued even after 2015, UNP MP Thushara Indunil Amarasena said. 

“One cannot deny the revelation made in the forensic audit. We are not willing to cover up the scam that took place during our time, which is why we call for the arrest of both individuals who governed the Central Bank during the period in which the scam took place. What had transpired prior to 2015 is similar to stealing coconut from an estate by loading them into a lorry in the estate premises and what happened after 2015 is that sacks full of coconut were thrown out of the estate,” he told a press conference held yesterday, while calling for the extradition of Arjuna Mahendran from Singapore. 

Meanwhile, former Western Provincial Councillor Niroshan Padukka who participated in the press conference said the EPF had been put on risk by investing its funds in companies that were not quoted in the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE). “This should also be investigated,” he said.