Mount Lavinia Magistrate A.D. Chathurika de Silva will deliver her order on June 16 regarding whether Trade Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe should be named as a suspect in a fraud case.

The case involves a building belonging to a trust known as the National Workers’ Institute, which had been leased for Rs. 3.6 million by individuals posing as officials of the National Workers’ Congress (NWC) trade union. 

They included Mr. Samarasinghe. 

The magistrate gave the order after considering a request by Maithri Gunaratne, PC, who appeared with Attorney-at-Law Kisal Senanayake for the aggrieved party. 

Mr Gunaratne told court the involvement of the minister and his associates was clearly evident when one looked at the early reports submitted by the Colombo Fraud Bureau, which investigated the case.

Mr Gunaratne claimed that while Mr Samarasinghe had posed as the president of the NWC, the property in question did not belong to it. 

Moreover, Labour Department documents confirm that Mr Samarasinghe and his associates, who posed as NWC officials, did not hold any positions there and were outsiders.

He also pointed out that no one had been arrested over the incident, though those who had posed as NWC officials and signed lease agreements had been exposed. He urged the court to name them as suspects.

(sundaytimes.lk)
(This story, originally published by sundaytimes.lk has not been edited by SLM staff)