Former Foreign Ministry Monitoring MP Sajin de Vass Gunawardena was arrested earlier today, on charges he misused vehicles belonging to the presidential secretariat.
The Criminal Investigation Department summoned the MP to record a statement this morning where he was arrested and remanded until May 20. Mr Gunawardena is facing several charges of corruption and fraud, committed during his tenure under former president Mahinda Rajapaksa.
The MP is the former CEO of the government owned airline, Mihin Lanka and also served as coordinating secretary on trade and foreign affairs to the former president.
Former Co-operatives and Internal Trade Minister Johnston Fernando was also remanded until May 25, earlier today.
Mr Fernando was arrested by the Financial Crime Investigation Division (FCID) on May 5, over alleged financial irregularities at the state-owned wholesale network Lanka Sathosa while he was minister.
The government meanwhile stressed the investigations carried out by all the law enforcement agencies in the country, including the Financial Crimes Investigation Division, were completely independent and the recent arrests were not due to political intervention.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe said in a statement today, the law enforcement agencies are not controlled by the Cabinet Sub-committee on Anti-Corruption, which is only monitoring progress of the investigations.
Former Sri Lankan president’s brother arrested on corruption charges (22 April 2015)
