Court order freezing 24 accounts of Perpetual Treasuries extended
February 1, 2018 09:57 pm
The Colombo High Court has issued an order extending the freezing of bank accounts of 24 companies registered under Perpetual Treasuries for another 30 days.
“On an application made by the Attorney General on behalf of the Criminal Investigation Department, the High Court of Colombo earlier today made order extending the order made last week by the Director of the Financial Investigation Unit of the Central Bank freezing all bank accounts of 24 companies of the Perpetual Treasuries Group LD companies.”
The extension will initially be valid for 30 days and is renewable, the President’s Media Division said.
“These measures are aimed at ensuring that Perpetual Treasuries Limited or other parties acting in concert with it, do not transfer the money derived out of transactions involving illegally acquired Treasury Bonds.”
“Thus, the future efforts of the Attorney General to have the proceeds of crime confiscated and forfeited to the State will not be frustrated as the monies in the frozen accounts will remain intact.”
This decision will increase the confidence of the initiative to bring the perpetrators of the financial crime related to the Treasury bond issuance before law and recover the losses to the state, the statement said.
The company is associated with Arjun Aloysius, son-in-law of ex-Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran and a key suspect in the controversial Central Bank bond scams investigated and found accountable by a presidential commission.
The suspension means that none of the 28 companies within the group can carry out financial business of any sort through their bank accounts.
On January 5, the Monetary Board of the Central Bank decided to extend the suspension of Perpetual Treasuries Limited (PTL) to function as a Primary Dealer for further six months.
