Sri Lankan anti-graft authorities on Friday arrested lawmaker Namal Rajapaksa, the son of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, accusing him of receiving $800,000 linked to a 2013 Airbus deal.
The Colombo Chief Justice of the Peace Asanga Bodaragama ordered the 40-year-old scion of the once-powerful Rajapaksa household to be held for 2 weeks pending additional investigations.
He was taken earlier than court docket by the Fee to Examine Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), which arrested him after questioning over the $2.3 billion Airbus transaction.
The CIABOC advised court docket that Rajapaksa had obtained $800,000, a part of cash allegedly paid by the European plane producer to Sri Lankan politicians and officers to safe the deal.
A Sri Lankan businessman had organized the switch of money to Rajapaksa through two Singapore financial institution accounts, the court docket was advised.
Rajapaksa’s lawyer Nishantha Dayananda sought bail, nevertheless it was denied.
CIABOC had questioned the previous president himself in Could over allegations that he, too, had obtained kickbacks from the plane buy, which was cancelled by a brand new authorities in 2016.
The anti-graft probe centres on claims that the European producer channelled a part of the cash from the acquisition to senior Sri Lankan officers and politicians.
The Rajapaksa household has denied allegations that they obtained bribes and dismissed corruption claims towards them as politically motivated.
Former SriLankan Airways chief govt Kapila Chandrasena advised investigators in March that he had handed practically half 1,000,000 {dollars} in kickbacks to the senior Rajapaksa.
Chandrasena was discovered lifeless at a relative’s residence in Could, shortly earlier than he was as a consequence of be rearrested. The reason for loss of life has not been established.
A joint investigation by US, British and French authorities beforehand discovered Airbus had agreed to pay about $16 million in bribes in Sri Lanka, with $1.7 million routed to Chandrasena earlier than the scandal was uncovered.
The funds had been linked to the acquisition of 10 Airbus plane, which required cupboard approval throughout Rajapaksa’s presidency from 2005 to 2015.
In response to submissions made in court docket, Chandrasena initially advised investigators he had paid Rajapaksa 60 million rupees ($461,000 on the time) in three instalments in 2013.
He later retracted the assertion, claiming it had been made below stress.
SriLankan Airways has collected losses estimated at practically $2 billion, and repeated makes an attempt to privatise the debt-laden flag provider have failed.
(Apart from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is printed from a syndicated feed.)
