Retired auditor released on bail in asset case

By Bhagya Silva

Colombo, March 11 (Daily Mirror) - Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragamage today ordered that U.K. Sumanasekara, retired auditor of the Department of Civil Security, who had been taken into custody by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption over alleged illicit asset accumulation, be released on bail.

The magistrate granted bail of Rs. 500,000 in two sureties and also imposed a foreign travel ban on the suspect.

The CIABOC told court that the suspect would be presented in connection with assets totalling Rs. 4.42 million, which he allegedly could not account for, accumulated over a 28 month 

period.

Defence counsel stated that the suspect served in the government as an auditor from 1984 to 2014. During this period, he sold four vehicle permits and deposited the proceeds into fixed deposits. Additional funds received from the suspect’s son, a lecturer at an Australian university and from his daughter, who served as an additional secretary in a ministry, were also preserved for future needs. The lawyer added that the suspect’s wife is a police officer and that the family’s children are financially dependent on their parents.

Considering the submissions from both parties and noting that investigations had concluded, the Chief Magistrate granted bail, directing the CIABOC to report the progress of further proceedings to court on July 28.