A New Spin to the Gotabhaya Account Money - Galle Face land sales went to Defence Min. account against Treasury regulations

From The Times On Line

Former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa’s contention on Monday that money from the sale of land at Galle Face went into a special Defence Ministry account was against all Treasury regulations, informed sources said.

Treasury sources, who declined to be named, said all such monies must be sent to the Treasury and the Consolidated Fund. ‘It is only thereafter that it is transferred to the respective projects. If this money was directly sent to a Defence Ministry account, then it violated standard regulations,” one source said.

Rajapaksa’s statement was issued by him and carried in a few websites in response to new Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake’s accusation that a large sum of money had been in a Bank of Ceylon account under the former Defence Secretary’s name.

The former Defence Secretary denied the allegation and has said this was a Defence Ministry account that was opened with cabinet approval with the money used for the construction of the military headquarters at Pelawatte.

However Treasury sources also referred to comments by Deputy Economic Development Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardane (over the years) that they have not received the money, which should have been deposited with the Treasury. “We have been waiting for this money. Now it seems it had been directly sent to this account violating stated rules,” the source said.