Witnesses Collected by CID in London May Put Former Presidential Secretary Saman Ekanayake in Hot Water
Former Presidential Secretary Saman Ekanayake has been remanded in custody until February 18 by the Fort Magistrate’s Court today (11).
Ekanayake, who has been named as a suspect in the ongoing case related to former President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s visit to London, was recently arrested and produced before court. He had earlier been remanded until today, and the court extended his remand at today’s hearing.
Accordingly, when the case was taken up today, the court issued this order and informed that a decision on whether to grant bail to the suspect will be delivered on the 18th.
The investigation concerns allegations that former President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s visit to London was a private trip undertaken to attend the graduation ceremony of his wife, Professor Maithree Wickremesinghe, but was falsely presented as an official visit. It is alleged that government documents were altered in this process, causing a financial loss of over Rs. 150 million to the state.
Furthermore, witnesses collected by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in London are reported to have revealed that the visit was in fact private, not official, which could place former Presidential Secretary Saman Ekanayake in serious legal trouble.
The case is being heard in connection with providing assistance and facilitation for this alleged misuse of public funds.