Explosive Airbus bribery claim: Rs. 60 Mn allegedly paid to Mahinda Rajapaksa

By Bhagya Silva

Colombo, March 19 (Daily Mirror) - The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption today informed the Colombo Magistrate’s Court that former SriLankan Airlines Chief Executive Officer Kapila Chandrasena had stated, in a statement to the Commission, that a sum of Rs. 60 million received as a bribe in the controversial 2016 Airbus transaction was handed over to then President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption informed court that, according to the statement by the suspect, a sum of Rs. 60 million that he had received was allegedly paid in three instalments to former Executive President Mahinda Rajapaksa, while a further sum of Rs. 20 million had been given to former Civil Aviation Minister Priyankara Jayaratne.

It was revealed that a shell company had been established in Brunei under his wife’s name, and a bank account had been opened in Singapore under the said company. Through this arrangement, a sum of Euro 1,454,645.54 had allegedly been obtained from the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company as bribes.

Investigations further revealed that the funds had been transferred to the suspect’s account at the Commonwealth Bank in Australia, and that portions of the bribe money had been distributed to a director of SriLankan Airlines and several high-ranking government officials.

The suspect was arrested on these charges, and Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama ordered that he be further remanded till April 2.