Mahinda Rajapaksa’s brother held for ‘fraud’

Sri Lankan financial crime police arrested on Monday a brother of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa for a third time over suspicion of state fund misappropriation when he was economic development minister, a lawyer said.

Mr Rajapaksa’s younger brother, Basil, is on bail after being arrested twice for alleged misappropriation of state funds and a land deal allegedly involving money laundering. Court hearings into the two cases are going on. He has denied any wrongdoing. Basil Rajapaksa’s lawyer, Jayantha Weerasinghe, said his client was remanded in custody until August 1 after the police took him to court over the supply of building materials to district councils when he was a minister.

“We pointed out that nothing is irregular about this transaction. But irrespective of what we said, he was remanded,” Mr Weerasinghe said. Neither Basil Rajapaksa nor his family members were immediately available for comment.

Mahinda Rajapaksa’s eldest son, Namal Rajapaksa was released by a court on bail on Monday but was banned to travel abroad by a court here over allegedly accepting $500,000 from an Indian firm in connection with a multi-million dollar real-estate project in the heart of Colombo. Namal Rajapaksa, a member of Parliament, was arrested last week and kept under remand custody till Monday, becoming the second son of the former President to be remanded over financial irregularity. Namal, 30, has been charged with misappropriating 70 million rupees ($500,000) in connection with the deal with India’s Krrish Group, which had in 2013 signed an agreement to start a $650 million real-estate venture in Colombo’s central business district of Fort. The case will be next taken up on August 8. Namal’s younger brother Yoshitha, who was previously arrested by FCID over another business deal involving a sports television channel, is currently on bail after being in remand.

Several members of the Rajapaksa family are facing police investigations for alleged financial crimes. They include Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brothers Basil and Gotabaya. He was arrested on July 11 for suspected misappropriation of funds in a high-end apartment project. Namal Rajapaksa denies wrongdoing as do his father and other relatives facing investigations.

Sri Lanka’s new president, Maithripala Sirisena, faces pressure to act on allegations of corruption dating back to the Rajapaksa era, especially from civil society organisations who backed his successful bid to oust Rajapaksa last year.

Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was president for a decade until January 2015 and is now an opposition legislator, is popular among many ethnic majority Sinhala Buddhists who credit him with ending a 26-year-war against ethnic Tamil rebels in 2009. He is trying to rally opposition to the current government with the help of Basil.