Ravi Karunanayake Released on Bail

Former Sri Lankan Finance Minister and parliamentarian Ravi Karunanayake has been released on bail in a case involving three workers recruited for what was described as a special Finance Ministry project.

Colombo Additional Magistrate Liyanwarsa Withana ordered Karunanayake’s release and imposed two personal sureties of 1 million Sri Lankan rupees each. The court also prohibited him from traveling abroad.

The allegations concern the period from Jan. 12, 2015, to May 22, 2017, when Karunanayake served as finance minister. Prosecutors accuse him of arranging for two coordination officers, Kalaarachchige Thilan Niyomal Perera and D.M. Savini Peris, and a management assistant, Sumith Priyantha Sigera, to be recruited by the National Lotteries Board. Their salaries and allowances allegedly caused a loss to the state while benefiting the three workers.

Former National Lotteries Board chair Shyamila Perera is named as the first suspect and had already been released on bail. The bribery commission told the court that the workers were hired on a contract basis with her involvement, paid by the lottery board and provided no service to it. The commission sought Karunanayake’s remand in custody, arguing that he could influence witnesses.

Karunanayake’s lawyers rejected the suggestion that he had evaded the commission. They said he had requested another date because of his daughter’s wedding and addressed a visit by commission officials to his home on Aug. 29.