10th April 2016

A total of US $ 19,967 million has been pilfered out of Sri Lanka from 2004 to 2013. According to the Global Financial Integrity’s ‘Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries: 2004-2013’ report, in 2011 alone US $ 4,602 million was moved out of Sri Lanka by various tax evaders including businessmen, and politicians. According to the report, in 2004, US $ 1,487 million was moved out of Sri Lanka, while in 2005 the total amount pilfered was US $ 1,389 million and in 2006 it was US $ 1,554 million and US $ 1,890 million in 2007. The Global Financial Integrity, which is a non-profit, research, advisory, and advocacy organization located in Washington, D.C also disclosed that in 2008 the total amount pilfered out of Sri Lanka was US $ […]

By Tisaranee Gunasekara – “To walk our way and keep our eyes fixed on it Is mankind’s first and foremost obligation.” Iphigenia in Tauris (Goethe) It is a lie, beloved by the powerful, the rich, the privileged, that transparency is inimical to national security and public wellbeing. National security and public wellbeing suffer greater harm, where there is no transparency and no right to protest. In Sri Lanka, whistleblowers and media played a critical role in revealing some of the worst Rajapaksa outrages, even during the time of Rajapaksa rule. Since waste, corruption, nepotism and other abuses of power did not end with the Rajapaksas, whistleblowers and media continue to have work to do. The latest round of revelations includes the possibility of another bond […]

Referring to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s visit to China to strengthen ties, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa says that the government has done something good after a long time. He stated China has provided Sri Lanka with immense military assistance to beat the LTTE and to develop the country’s economy and infrastructure and that during his reign he signed agreements with the Asian powerhouse to launch development projects and establish business opportunities.  We had a plan to develop the country but this government stopped them, Rajapaksa said, addressing an event in Angunakolapelessa today (10).  He stated that now the government had to go and seek relief from the China even after severely criticizing the country in the past.  Walk around the country and the work I […]

The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) accused former paramilitary member Iniya Bharathi of taking land by force in Thirukkovil in Ampara. JVP Parliamentarian Vijitha Herath said Iniya Bharathi had assisted the former government during the war against the LTTE and had control over Thirukkovil. He says during the war Iniya Bharathi used weapons to control the people of Thirukkovil, and today he continues to have a hold on the residents in the area. The JVP MP urged the government to intervene in Thirukkovil issue and bring the situation under control.

by Shamindra Ferdinando Contrary to speculation Sri Lankan politicians are not among those named in Panama Papers (a vast collection of documents pertaining to massive secret investments in far-flung tax havens). However, among those Sri Lankans who had been named in the Panama Papers are in a range of lucrative sectors mainly among captains of private industries including leisure, tourism promotion, travel industry, health care, capital market promotion, power generation for the state sector, state procurement, and major automobile importer and at least one former head of cash-strapped state enterprise. Informed sources identified some of those named as near and dear to politicians, both past and present. Provincial Councils and Local Government Minister Faizer Musthapha yesterday said that the government would thoroughly investigate the matter. […]

The world was shaken up this week with the leaks of the ‘Panama Papers’ exposing the financial shenanigans of world leaders, past and present. They showed how such leaders of men, women and nations and their business side-kicks hid their embezzled wealth in tax havens around the world and thereby avoided paying taxes in their respective countries. They enjoyed the good life with their monies stacked in offshore banks, some using shell companies with front-men as the account holders, while their fellow countrymen and women were asked to pay their taxes. This was an instance of cross-border journalism taken to a new level. A ‘whistleblower’ first providing a German newspaper with the original leak; the newspaper then contacting the New York-based International Consortium of Investigative […]