Rs.10 Bn belonging to PTL CBSL hadn’t generated interest since July 5

Though Court ordered the funds to be invested in the capital market

By Shehan Chamika Silva   

Colombo Chief Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne has directed the relevant officials of the Central Bank to appear in Court on August 20 in connection with the non-compliance of a Court directive given in the magisterial inquiry into the Treasury Bond scam.  

The directive was based on the CBSL having, since last month, stopped generating interest on the Rs.10 billion belonging to PTL and for refusing to give the account balance details to the defence.   

The funds were seized by the Court and later on the request of the prosecution the Court allowed the CB to use the money in its capital market transactions on the assurance that a separate account would be maintained on the income earned until such time the bond case is concluded.   

Counsel Sajitha Jayawardena, appearing for Arjun Aloysius, Geoffrey Aloysius and the PTL informed Colombo Chief Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne that the funds had been re-invested on a daily basis, without any obstacle till July 5, within the parameters of the Court request.   

He said the CBSL had violated the Court direction and requested the Court to direct the relevant officials to explain why they had not complied with the Court order. 

 
The Court had on an earlier occasion ordered that the two accounts belonging to Perpetual Treasuries Ltd (PTL) --  RTGS account with a balance of Rs.9.16 billion and the treasuries bond account with a balance of Rs.1.3 billion, which had been used by the PTL to transact busines in Treasury Bonds.   

On February 16, 2018, on the request of the prosecution, the Court directed the CB to re-invest the the funds until the case was concluded. Meanwhile, on a request made by the counsel the Court relaxed the bail conditions imposed on Arjun Aloysius requiring him to report to the CID on the last Sunday of every month instead of the earlier condition to report to the CID every Sunday. 

The directive was based on the CBSL having, since last month, stopped generating interest on the Rs.10 billion belonging to PTL