Mon, Apr 27, 2015, 08:16 am SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Apr 27, Colombo: Sri Lanka Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake has put the Huffington Post on notice for an article the US-based newspaper published alleging that the Minister faces court charges for alleged money laundering through the convicted Sri Lankan billionaire Raj Rajaratnam.
Informing the Huffington Post through his counsel Sandun S.K. Gamage, Minister Karunanayake alleges that the article by Asoka Bandarage titled "Good Governance in Sri Lanka" and published on 17 April 2015 deliberately and intentionally sought to cause irreparable damage to his political career.
The article in question says Minister Karunanayake faces court charges for alleged money laundering a few years ago, violating Sri Lanka's Central bank regulations and the Exchange Control Act.
It further says that the Minister was "accused of facilitating the transfer of Rs.390 million (USD 3 million) to Sri Lanka by Raj Rajaratnam, the infamous Tamil Sri Lankan American, billionaire and founder of Galleon Group hedge fund. Rajaratnam who was "convicted of conspiracy and securities fraud in one of the biggest insider-trading cases in the history of Wall Street" is currently serving an eleven year prison sentence in the U.S.A."
The article further says that the Finance Minister Karunanayake had an order to be present in Court in Colombo on 29 January 2015 to face the money laundering charges but he was not present at the courts because of the presentation of the interim budget on the same day.
"However, the presentation of the interim budget of the new Sri Lankan government was fixed for the exact same date! As Karunanayake could not be in the Parliament and the Courts at the same time, the court case was postponed. No other information on this court case can be found in the media," Bandarage writes in the Huffington Post.
Further the article says questions raised by "H.L.D. Mahindapala, the doyen of Sri Lankan journalism, on the implications of the Karunanayake case are pertinent here: "and quotes Mahindapala:
"Will there be attempts to cover-up the case? As some of the key departments handling this case (example: Exchange Control) come under the Finance Ministry will there be pressure brought to manipulate/cook the evidence in courts? Is this going to be the first of many cases that are likely to recur in due course to undermine the independence of the judiciary?"
The Counsel writing to Huffington Post says it has been specifically asserted that his client "faces court charges for alleged money laundering......and that he had been ordered to be present in court in Colombo on 29 January 2015 to face money laundering charges."
"The above is a blatantly false statement maliciously made, with ulterior motives and for extraneous purposes, causing irreparable loss and damage and irremediable mischief to my Client, globally and more particularly before international financial institutions, with my Client holding the Office of Minister of Finance of the Government of Sri Lanka," the Counsel wrote.
The notice said the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, in an internal communication, has confirmed that there was no offence committed under the provisions of the Money laundering Act No. 5 of 2006.
The alleged money laundering case had been abandoned by the Financial Intelligence Unit as far back as February 2008, admitting that there was no case against Mr. Karunanayake, the notice further said.
The notice offering copies of documents pertinent to the case said the allegations of money laundering against the Finance Minister were an "endeavor to tarnish the status of my client solely for political agenda, with my client having been a popular critic of the former regime."
The Counsel points out that the Huffington Post had the opportunity to check the public records and verify the facts of the court case but without doing so "maliciously" stated "with deliberate intent to cause mischief" that the Minister was ordered to appear before the Court in Colombo on January 29 to face money laundering charges.
"This was a blatantly false, concocted, mal-fire and malicious statement, intentionally and deliberately made to subject my client [Karunanayake] to public ridicule and odium, both locally and globally, and had been recklessly made without having ascertained the facts in the public record in the case," the legal notice said.
The Counsel put the author of the article Asoka Bandarage, H.L.D. Mahindapala, the President and Editor -In-Chief of the Huffington Post Arianna Huffington and 13 other relevant personnel in Huffington Post on notice, that "Claims for irreparable losses and damages and irremediable mischief, intentionally and deliberately caused to my Client, with intent to ruin his political career, name, repute and status, and bring him into public ridicule and odium, would be instituted against each and every one of you, jointly or severally, before relevant international for a for damages caused to my Client , locally and globally."
No comments:
Post a Comment