The Colombo Fort Magistrate today temporally released businesswoman Sudharama Nettikumara and determined that she should appear before Court once she received a notice regarding a case where she was alleged to have committed a criminal breach of trust amounting to Rs. 5 million.
   
Filing a motion before the Magistrate Thilina Gamage, President’s Counsel Rienzie Arsecularatne who appeared for the businesswoman submitted to Court that his client had not been made a suspect in the case. He further submitted that the extracts of the investigations had been forwarded to the Attorney General for his advice to decide whether she should be named a suspect or not. Accordingly, defence counsel moved Court that an order be issue directing her not to appear before Court during the calling dates of the case, but to appear before Court once she received a notice to do so.

After having considered the facts, the Magistrate temporally released the businesswoman from the case and directed her to appear before Court once she received a notice.

In this case, the complainant Samantha Dilrukshana a businessman of Pannipitiya had made a complaint to the Colombo Fraud Investigations Bureau (CFIB) that he had given a sum of Rs.5 million to businesswoman Sudharma in 2007 which she promised to pay back with the dividends for the deposited money. However, the complainant told police that the concerned amount of money which he gave the businesswoman belonged to his sister-in-law who lived abroad. By remitting a sum of Rs.6 million from abroad she had asked him to find a suitable block of land for purchase. He further stated that as he was unable to find a block of land he decided to invest the sum of Rs. 5 million with businesswoman Ms. Nettikumara who was known to him through a close relative. He further alleged that the businesswoman had failed to pay back the amount as agreed and thereby registered a complaint with the CFIB in this. (Lakmal Sooriyagoda)