Transparency International Sri Lanka has submitted a complaint to the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), calling for an investigation into the alleged unexplained assets of retired senior public official Ramalingam Paskaralingam.
Issuing a statement, the TISL said the Pandora Papers investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) alleges that Paskaralingam has assets worth millions of dollars in overseas companies and trusts.
TISL noted that the information in this exposé could point to actions amounting to offences under Section 23A of the Bribery Act, since the amount of wealth that has been exposed cannot be accounted for through the monthly salary of a public official who held office as a Secretary to a Ministry or an advisor to the Prime Minister.
Therefore, TISL has requested the Commission to probe into the Declarations of Assets and Liabilities of Paskaralingam and to carry out an investigation.
TISL also noted that Paskaralingam could be identified as a Politically Exposed Person (PEP), according to the Financial Action Task Force which defines a PEP as an individual who is or has been entrusted with a prominent public function that can be potentially abused for the purpose of committing corruption, bribery, money laundering, and terrorist financing.
TISL stated that this complaint is lodged in the interest of the public, who are the owners of the public funds and public resources of Sri Lanka, and urged the Bribery Commission to keep the public informed about the progress of the investigation. (NewsWire)