The Forensic Audit done on the Bond scam conducted by the members of the Monitory Board of Central Bank has covered up those involved, said former Governor of Central Bank and Senior Economic Advisor to the Prime Minister, Ajith Nivard Cabraal.
“From the time the Bond scam was carried out under the previous administration of Ranil Wickremesinghe, they had been avoiding the law by regularly bringing up various distractions so that the true nature of the Scam could be covered-up and the persons responsible could escape punishment,” he said.
Instead of a straight-forward police investigation and prosecution, which is the most obvious and acceptable method by which all crimes and frauds are dealt with, that administration orchestrated various non-punitive inquiries including private lawyer inquiries, COPE inquiries, and Presidential Commission investigations, so that the perpetrators could evade arrest and carry out their other work without any hindrance.
“The Bond Commission recommended a Forensic Audit subsequent to a suggestion made to it by Former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe,” the former Governor said.
“Unfortunately several members serving in the Monetary Board had been involved in covering-up the scams to the greatest extent possible,” he accused.
An initial study of the Forensic Audit Reports clearly confirms that its main purpose has obviously been to “whitewash” the corrupt Wickremesinghe administration that carried out the Bond scam to the greatest extent possible, and to “blacken” the “pre-2015” administration as heavily as possible.
In the next few days, a more detailed and in-depth analysis of the purported Forensic Audit Reports would be carried out in order to apprise the public of the gross inaccuracies, prejudiced statements, and the politically motivated comments.
The immediate former Governor of the Central Bank Dr Indrajith Coomaraswamy has himself confirmed that this purported Forensic Audit was carried out “under the authority of the Monetary Board”.
It is also well known within the Central Bank that two members of the Monetary Board, who coordinated the Forensic Audits for the Monetary Board was a person under whose watch the second Bondscam took place since he was a Member of the Monetary Board from March 2015 onwards.
Hence the forensic audit is best described in the pithy Sinhala saying, translated as “like asking the robber’s mother about the identity of the robber!”
“Hence, it is abundantly clear that the “independence” which is a vital pre-requisite for any credible Forensic Audit had been hopelessly compromised by the costly and corrupt process followed by the Members of the Monetary Board.”
The then government wasted Rs. 300 million to conduct this Forensic Audit.
Cabraal says that there is sufficient evidence and material available to carry out a prosecution of the masterminds of the scam as well those who have been aiding and abetting the crime. “Those who have actively assisted in the cover-up of the Scam have also been clearly identified.”
Therefore, it is strongly urged that the Government immediately establishes several CID Investigation units to thoroughly investigate all aspects of this dastardly crime, so that the perpetrators of this heinous white-collar crime could be brought to book as fast as possible. Needless to say, the entire country is eagerly waiting until that is done.
0 comments: