Former General Secretary of the United National Party (UNP) and former Minister of Education and Higher Education, Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, has been remanded until August 18 by Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama.
He was produced before the court after being arrested earlier today (05) by officers of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) on corruption charges.
The Chief Magistrate issued the remand order after considering submissions made by both the Bribery Commission officers and the legal counsel representing the suspect.
The allegations against Kariyawasam stem from his tenure as Senior Advisor (Decentralized Administration) to the President during Ranil Wickremesinghe’s administration. He is accused of committing corruption by recruiting four individuals under the guise of appointing staff for his official duties, but deploying three of them to work at a fuel station owned by him, while the fourth employee was not engaged in any official duties at the assigned office.
By causing the government to pay Rs. 2,768,836.14 in salaries and allowances to these individuals, he is alleged to have caused a substantial financial loss to the state.
