VIDEO: Ex-Inland Revenue Dy Commissioner sentenced in VAT fraud case
May 8, 2014 05:39 pm
The Colombo High Court today imposed a 102-year suspended jail term to be served for 3 years and a Rs 12 billion fine on the former Deputy Commissioner of the Inland Revenue Department, who was found guilty in a massive VAT fraud case.
High Court Judge Kumuduni Wickremasinghe imposed this sentence on the former Inland Revenue Officer, Gunasiri de Soyza Jayatillake, who pleaded guilty to 34 charges in Sri Lanka’s biggest VAT scam, amounting to Rs 3.9 billion.
Jayatillake had pleaded guilty to the charges when the case was taken up on April 26. The verdict on the case had been postponed to today (May 8).
The Attorney General had filed charges against 14 defendants over the case while hearing were carried out only against 5 of them as 9 were absconding after leaving the country.
The offence was said to have been committed by the businessman known as Kamil Kuthubdeen and his accomplices between November 15, 2002 and August 15, 2004.
The Colombo High Court has issued warrants for his arrest but he is said to be on the run after hiding at his Dubai city hotels.
The former Inland Revenue Assistant Commissioner Ananda Ambepitiya was sentenced to 14 months in jail by the Colombo High Court in April last year after he pleaded guilty to the charge of having been involved in the same VAT scam.
Meanwhile, the eleventh accused Salawudeen Mohamed Ashraff a businessman was ordered to pay a fine of Rs.60 million and two years of rigorous imprisonment after being found guilty of the charge of having fraudulently received Rs.16.5 million.
On a previous occasion, the tenth accused Selliah Subramaniam, a businessman was sentenced to 13 months rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs.100 million when he was found guilty to the charge of Rs.646 million as VAT refunds from the IRD.
The 13the accused Rizwin alias Abdul Kareem was sentenced to one year’s rigorous imprisonment and fined one million rupees after he was found guilty of having received Rs.188 million as VAT refunds.
The 14th accused Shabdeen Abdulla was sentenced to eight months rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs.50,000 after he was found guilty of preparing false documents to facilitate the fraud.
