Dr. Wickrema Weerasooria responding to the Joint Opposition’s statement against Minister Malik Samarawickrema and him on the misuse of Mahapola funds state:
“I refer to the news item in the Daily News (page 4) regarding the Joint Opposition making a complaint to the Bribery Commission on Mahapola against Malik Samarawickrema and myself.
“I totally deny as an utter falsehood and diabolic lie that I had in any way misused or abused Mahapola funds to benefit any companies or individuals connected to me and/or my family.
“Natwealth Corporation (NWC) and Natwealth Securites (NWS) were established as far back as early 2003. I am the Chairman of NWC, but I am not a director or Board member of NWS. My appointment as Chairman was in mid 2015 after the new government and when Malik Samarawickrema became Minister in Charge of Mahapola after 2015. I continued in that post.
“The Mahapola funds are managed by NWC. They have been in a Custodian Account of the Bank of Ceylon and the fund stands at about Rs. 8,000 Million, while in 2002 it was about Rs. 3,000 million.
“Connected to NWC is Natwealth Securities (NWS) which is a Primary Dealer. As stated earlier, I am not a director or Board member of NWS. As a Primary Dealer, NWS is regulated and supervised by the Public Debt Department of the Central Bank and its Non-Banking Supervision Department.
“It is important to note that the accounts of NWC and NWS are Audited by Pricewaterhouse Coopers and the Internal Auditors are Ernst and Young. Both are reputed audit firms. The MTF is Audited by the Government Auditor.
“The Mahapola Trust Fund comprises of seven members chaired by the Chief Justice. Four others are Ex.officio members, like Minister Malik Samarawickrema, the Secretary of his Ministry and the Secretaries of the Ministries of Higher Education and Education. This board meets about three to four times a year.
“MTF has a Management Committee chaired by Secretary of the Ministry in charge of Mahapola. It also has an Audit Committee chaired by the Higher Education Ministry Secretary. These two Committees meet about three times a year. It also has an Acting Director who is a senior officer of the University Grants Commission.
“All the above institutions show how closely Mahapola funds are regulated.
“All financial transactions relating to investments of Mahapola funds are well documented in paper. There can be no transactions without proper documentation. The accounts of both NWC and NWS are available for inspection by any authorised body. These accounts will show that not one cent of Mahapola funds had been misused or abused by me with any individuals or firms connected to me or my family.
“I am requesting the Bribery Commission to investigate the complaint made by the Joint Opposition, because I am confident that they will come to the conclusion that it was untrue and unjustified. When that step is achieved, I will further request the same Commission to take action against the individuals who made such a false complaint, because under the Bribery Act, there is provision to prosecute such persons.”
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