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US sleuths here last week:
Stolen assets probe begins in US
by Manjula Fernando
The unearthing of possibly billions of rupees worth of assets
syphoned off from Sri Lanka and stashed away in the United States of
America begins with the return of the high-powered US investigative team
that was in Colombo last week.
A team of US prosecutors and investigators was in the country to
assist their Sri Lankan counterparts to trace and recover the stolen
assets stashed in financial institutions in the United States.
“The team comprised officers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI), Department of Justice, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security,” a senior State official
told the Sunday Observer. Cabinet Spokesman Rajitha Senaratne earlier
said they believe State assets to the tune of US $ 10 billion may have
been stolen from Government coffers by certain key members of the former
regime and sent out of the country.
The visit by the US team was principally meant to share information
and develop contacts at individual departmental level. The officers of
the CID, Bribery Commission and Attorney General’s Department as well as
other key institutions handling the stolen asset recovery took part in
the meetings.
US Secretary of State John Kerry, who was in Colombo on the eve of
Vesak assured that his government will help return every cent of stolen
assets stashed in the US, to Sri Lanka.
Investigators believe that most of the allegedly plundered State
assets by certain bigwigs of the previous government may have finally
reached the United States.
Previously it was thought that the pilfered wealth was stashed in
bank accounts in Dubai, Seychelles and the Netherlands. Initial
investigations even traced US$ 2 billion, one-fifth of the stolen
assets, in a Dubai Bank, that has gone missing since. The government has
sought help from the World Bank's Stolen Assets Recovery Initiative (StAR)
and the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Reserve Bank India (RBI)
among others to recover the plundered wealth.
The Governments of Britain, India and Seychelles among others have
also extended support in the investigations. |
