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Colombo Chief Magistrate Thilina Gamage issued open warrants yesterday (19) against former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran and Ajahn Gardiner Punchihewa for failing to appear in Court in connection with a money laundering case related to the 2015 Central Bank bond scam.
The warrants were issued during a hearing of the case, where it was revealed that Arjun Aloysius, who is currently in remand custody over allegations of VAT evasion, is also a suspect in this matter. The Magistrate ordered prison officials to produce Aloysius in Court for the next hearing.
While other suspects were present in court, Mahendran and Punchihewa’s absence prompted the Magistrate to issue the warrants. The case involves allegations of financial misconduct, conspiracy, and offences under the Penal Code. It was filed by the CID’s Financial Investigations Unit under seven charges.
The suspects include Perpetual Treasuries Limited, Arjun Aloysius, Arjuna Mahendran, Geoffrey Joseph Aloysius, Ajahn Gardiye Punchihewa, Pushpamuththu Gunawardena, Kasun Palisena and Muthuraja Surendran. During the hearing, defense attorneys for Palihena requested the Court to discharge him, citing insufficient evidence to file charges against him. The Magistrate directed investigators to present findings regarding this request at the next session.
The CID informed Court that indictments against the suspects had already been filed in the High Court. Attorneys Sampath Mendis and Lalith Amarasekera appeared before court to represent the suspects.
Kalpani Abeysinghe
