The Registrar of the Minuwangoda Magistrate’s Court has been taken into custody by the CIABOC for aiding and abetting a bribery plot aimed at altering former Deputy Minister Sarana Gunawardena’s prison sentence.
The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) has arrested the Registrar of the Minuwangoda Magistrate’s Court on charges of aiding and abetting bribery.
The arrest follows an ongoing investigation initiated by a complaint lodged with the Bribery Commission by High Court Judge Rashantha Godawela regarding an alleged bribery attempt to convert former Deputy Minister Sarana Gunawardena’s prison sentence into a suspended sentence.
The legal proceedings involve a corruption case where Sarana Gunawardena, during his tenure as Chairman of the Development Lotteries Board (DLB), fraudulently transferred a house in Madiwela belonging to his wife under a different name and leased it back to the DLB unnecessarily, defrauding LKR 2 million.
Earlier in connection with this investigation, Sarana Gunawardena’s wife, Chinari Lakmanthi Hettiarachchi, was arrested for allegedly attempting to offer a LKR 50,000 bribe to an Office Assistant at the Colombo High Court in an attempt to influence her husband’s sentencing. She was subsequently remanded by the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court until October 6.
According to the Bribery Commission, text messages retrieved from the mobile phone of the aforementioned Office Assistant revealed details regarding the money transaction and the planned scheme. Expanding the probe into these communications led to the arrest of the Minuwangoda Court Registrar for facilitating the bribery attempt.
Additionally, a court peon (Arachchi) was arrested on September 22 in connection with the same case and remains in remand custody until October 6. Investigations have also identified a bookbinder attached to the High Court as being involved in the conspiracy.
In June, Sarana Gunawardena was sentenced by the Colombo High Court to 16 years of rigorous imprisonment and fined LKR 1.8 million after being found guilty in four corruption cases involving irregularities in renting vehicles while serving as DLB Chairman in 2006.
