The Bribery Commission says Charitha Ratwatte, a Senior Advisor during Ranil Wickremesinghe’s tenure as Prime Minister, was arrested today over allegations of having caused a loss of Rs. 99,679,799.70 to the Sri Lanka State Trading Corporation.
According to the Bribery Commission, the arrest was made in connection with the allegations that, during his tenure as a Senior Advisor to the Prime Minister in 2015, Ratwatte had procured 50 temporary warehouses.
The temporary warehouses were allegedly imported and procured through a company introduced by the suspect, bypassing the prescribed procurement procedures.
It is alleged that by influencing the officials of the Board, Ratwatte had caused a loss of Rs. 99,679,799.70 to the institution, and thereby to the government, and provided an equivalent benefit to an external party.
Based on these allegations, the suspect, Charitha Ratwatte, who was a Senior Advisor to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe between the period of 2015-2018, was arrested by officers of the Bribery Commission today.
Charitha Ratwatte is scheduled to be produced before the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court. (Newswire)
