AG tenders Arjuna Mahendran’s extradition request to Defence & Foreign ministries
September 2, 2019 05:09 pm
The Attorney General has tendered the extradition request for former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran to the Defence Ministry and the Foreign Affairs Ministry for necessary authentication and transmission to the Singaporean government.
“Documents amounting to 21,000 pages were submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defence today to be lodged with Singapore,” the attorney-general’s spokeswoman Nishara Jayaratne said.
She said Mahendran had been indicted in June for causing losses of more than US$11 million to the state.
She said Sri Lankan authorities had by Monday completed the legal requirements to formally lodge an extradition request with Singapore.
Mahendran, who is wanted in connection with investigations into the Central Bank treasury bond scam, is believed to be in Singapore.
A Singapore national of Sri Lankan origin, he was accused in 2015 of passing sensitive information to his bond-dealer son-in-law to make millions during his term as the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL).
A spokesperson for Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs had said in March that Sri Lanka’s request to return Mahendran “lacked certain information required under Singapore’s extradition laws” and the city-state has requested Sri Lankan government to provide them.
The spokespersons further said that Singapore had not yet received the requested supporting information and documents and that they look forward to receiving the requested information from Sri Lanka, so that they can consider the request further in accordance with their laws.
Singapore can extradite fugitives to declared Commonwealth countries, which include Sri Lanka.
In February last year, Mahendran was named a key suspect in the multi-million dollar bond scam in Sri Lanka. He fled abroad, failing to appear in court to respond to charges.
