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| Sunday, 12 September 2004 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Gold Quest : Rs. 1,300m fine on 927 persons by Jayantha Sri Nissanka The Task Force appointed by the Central Bank to investigate the Gold Quest scandal has identified 927 persons involved in the scheme and they will be fined around Rs. 1,300 million. The Central Bank has estimated that Rs. 5,000 million (US$ 50 million) has been drained from Sri Lanka on Gold Quest transactions during the last two years. The Central Bank has calculated their offence to the value of Rs.900 million. Though the Bank can impose three times the value of the offence, it has decided to impose only 150 per cent of the offence as fines. The Bank has already imposed a Rs. 88.1 million fine on six persons who had used their credit cards for third party transactions, violating the financial regulations of the country. Of the six offenders, a large scale agent of Gold Quest was fined Rs. 47 million. If the offenders fail to pay the fine, the Central Bank will take legal action at Magistrate's Courts or High Courts. If the case is heard in a Magistrate's Court, offenders will receive imprisonment not exceeding 18 months and a fine. If it is heard in a High Court, imprisonment will be not exceeding five years. The Task Force has now given an opportunity for other offenders to explain their position, a top Central Bank official told the Sunday Observer. Meanwhile, President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga last week directed authorities to formulate laws to combat pyramid and referral scams to protect innocent people in the country. Controller of Exchange H. A. G. Hettiarachchi on Friday met Solicitor General C. R. de Silva to obtain legal advice on the issue, sources said. |
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