Former State Trading Chairman Hussein Bhaila arrested

Colombo, Oct. 31 (Daily Mirror) - Former Chairman of the Sri Lanka State Trading (General) Corporation, Hussein Ahamed Bhaila, was arrested this morning by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) for allegedly causing a loss of over Rs. 99 million to the government.

He was taken into custody after arriving at the Commission to provide a statement regarding the importation of 50 temporary warehouses in 2015, which investigators say were procured without necessity. The move reportedly caused a loss of Rs. 99,679,799 to the Corporation and the government, while granting an undue benefit of the same value to an external party.

The suspect is to be produced before the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court.

Bhaila, who served as Chairman of the State Trading Corporation from February to October 2015, was also a Member of Parliament from 2004 to 2010. During his tenure, he held several deputy ministerial posts, including Advanced Technology & National Enterprise Development (2004–2005), Plan Implementation (2005–2007), and External Affairs (2007–2010).