Talks with Live Events fails, CMC goes ahead with lawsuit

8 January 2016 03:06 pm

The Colombo Municipality has decided to take legal action against 'Live Events', the company which organized the Enrique Iglesias concert at the CR&FC Grounds in Colombo after both parties failed to reach a settlement even after several rounds of talks, officials said.

An investigation carried out by the Municipality's Treasury Department had exposed a tax fraud amounting to some Rs.30 million on the revenue earned by Live Events.

The company was also blacklisted recently by Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) on the basis that taxes owed by the company to the Municipality was not paid.

Municipal Commissioner M.K.V.Anura said the several rounds of discussions held with Live Event officials ended inconclusively.

“They denied that an entertainment tax fraud of Rs.30 million was committed by them. They wrote to us saying that the proper taxes had been paid by them and that they owed nothing more to the Municipality. But, we stand by our investigations. It appears that the organizers are also keen to take this matter up in Court,” Mr. Anura said adding that a lawsuit would be filed on January 20 against Live Events.

Meanwhile, Municipal Treasurer K.D. Chitrapala said a complaint would also be lodged at the Fraud Bureau against Live Events.

He said the company had earlier admitted that they had sold tickets which did not have the seal of approval from the Municipality and highlighted that fact Colombo Mayor A.J.M. Muzammil had requested the organizers to settle the outstanding amount without having to resort to legal action.

The Municipality confirmed that the tickets had to be approved and sealed by it but that only a part of the tickets had been handed over to the Municipality for approval.

The main stakeholders of the company are former cricketing stars Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardane. (Piyumi Fonseka)