President Maithripala Sirisena says he has spoken to the Prime Minister of Singapore to extradite former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran over the Central Bank treasury bond scam.
The President said that all those responsible for the scam have now been identified.
Arjuna Mahendran was the Governor of the Central Bank when the scam took place in 2015.
In March this year the President had said he had appealed to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in January to return Mahendran, who is believed to be in Singapore, but claimed nothing had been done.
Mahendran, a Singapore national of Sri Lankan origin, was accused in 2015 of passing sensitive information to his son-in-law, a bond dealer, to make millions.
The pair are accused of manipulating bond auctions in 2015 and 2016, causing losses of over US$11 million to the state.
Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs had said authorities in the city state have been cooperating with their Sri Lankan counterparts on the case since January.
However, it said that Sri Lanka’s request to return Mahendran lacked certain information required under Singapore’s extradition laws. (Colombo Gazette)