Former SriLankan Airlines Chairman Nishantha Wickramasinghe arrested

Colombo, June 27 (Daily Mirror) - Former SriLankan Airlines Chairman Nishantha Wickramasinghe has been arrested by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) in connection with an ongoing investigation into aircraft procurement during his tenure.

He was arrested on charges of causing a financial loss of USD 4,512 to the government by altering the destination of flight UL319, which was scheduled to operate from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Katunayake on January 22, 2014.

In addition, the government incurred a loss of USD 19,160 due to the disembarkation of 75 passengers who had arrived from the Maldives and were scheduled to travel to France on flight UL563 on January 26, 2014.

The Commission further alleged that the former Chairman had misused government funds amounting to Rs. 1,250,000 for election campaign activities of the former President, held in Katunayake on December 19, 2014.

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