Colombo Chief Magistrate Thilina Gamage yesterday (31) ordered the Intelligence Investigation Unit of the Commission to Investigate the Allegations of Bribery or Corruption Colombo to immediately arrest all officials of the Motor Traffic Department (formerly RMV) and those others who were involved in the illegal import of vehicles depriving the Government of over Rs.10 billion in tax money.
The Court ordered the arrest of all the officials who illegally entered data into the information system of the Motor Traffic Department (RMV), as well as the officers who registered them and those who illegally imported these vehicles.
The Court also ordered this division of the Commission to seize six jeeps worth Rs.100 million imported into Sri Lanka depriving the government of Sri Lanka of over Rs.300 million in tax money.
The Colombo Chief Magistrate ordered these be handed over to the Director General of Customs.
When this case was taken up before the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s court, the Bribery Commission, which appeared in court on behalf of the plaintiff, stated that it had been revealed that several high officials of the Motor Traffic Department were also involved in the issuance of illegal number plates.
The Chief Magistrate issued this order under the Section 120 of the Code of Criminal Procedure in relation to three Mitsubishi Jeeps and three Toyota Jeeps that were not cleared by the Sri Lanka Customs.
The Magistrate made this order after taking a request made by the Bribery Commission into consideration. The Commission sought an order to hand over the relevant vehicles currently in the custody of civilians to the Sri Lankan Customs for investigation in relation to Sections 136 and 137 of the Customs Ordinance.
The Investigation Unit of the Commission reported the incident to the court stating that the government has lost this amount by not adopting proper clearance procedure by the Sri Lankan customs during the import process of these luxury vehicles.
The Bribery Commission informed the court that these six vehicles are currently owned by several residents of Galle, Avissawella, Kuruvita, Trincomalee and Kaduwela.
The Commission also informed the court that one of the vehicles which was brought to Sri Lanka without being properly cleared by the Sri Lankan Customs under the guise of importing other goods by feeding the false information to the computer data system of the Motor Traffic Department.
Investigations have so far confirmed that about 200 luxury vehicles have been imported into Sri Lanka without proper clearance from the Sri Lankan Customs by submitting false information to the computer data system of the Motor Traffic Department and the same unit has presented the facts to the court on December 8, 2023.
The Bribery Commission filed indictments in Colombo High Court against seven persons, including five officials of the Motor Transport Department, accusing them of depriving the government of tax money by removing the data of a three-wheeler and replacing it with a car of the ‘Mini Cooper’ type on December 22.
(dailynews.lk)
(Except for the headline, this story, originally published by dailynews.lk has not been edited by SLM staff)
