Sakvithi shock waves still swirling
Duty of Central Bank to keep public informed before not after
The idea that the Central Bank did not do enough to stop these fraudulent financial scams, is a very popular sentiment among many. Although after this incident the Central Bank has named six unauthorised finance institutions that are operating in the country, many feel that the Central bank should have taken this step before
By Stanley Samarasinghe and Rathindra KuruwitaThe financial scam exceeding one hundred million, masterminded by the now infamous English teacher Sakvithi Ranasinghe has not only shocked the nation but has also created a massive panic among the citizens who have invested money in these unauthorised financial institutions. Over the last week, many of us were flooded by the tragic tales of the people who have invested all in the hopes of making easy cash and lost all; T. Nalaka Ekanayake is one of the victims. “I saw the newspaper ads that Sakvithi Ranasinghe was offering a much higher interest rate than other banks. Since someone like Edwin Ariyadasa was on board, I thought that this was a legitimate operation,” he said. “So, when I sold a piece of land I invested one million rupees with Ranasinghe and look what happened, he swindled us,” he wept. But, the question is whether these people were victims of a grand scheme of deception or, whether these men and women were just blinded by the chance of a quick buck. According to T. Gayantha Ekanayake, the brother of Nalaka, it was neither the magnetic personality of Sakvithi Ranasinghe nor the association of Edwin Ariyadasa, that made Nalaka deposit money with Sakvithi, but the allure of easy money.“We sold a land that belonged to both of us and he wanted to invest the money with Sakvithi. I tried to tell him that there is no way that anyone can give you 6000 rupees a month if you invest 100,000 but he would not listen to me, his own brother,” he said. “I think that many of these guys failed to see the bigger picture and think rationally about all this. But the thing is that the Police should have taken more stern action against these frauds,” he added. Rohan Perera: The one who got awayGayantha pointed out that this is not the first time that an individual has embezzled large sums of money and escaped the law by going abroad. Rohan Perera, the chief of the failed Pramuka Bank, who was behind the country’s biggest banking scams in recent history, has managed to evade the police for six years.“The Police and the CID have informed Interpol but so far no clue has been found,” said a senior official at the CID. “When the Central Bank moved to take over the bank in 2002, Perera vanished without a trace but some time later, he gave European newspapers an interview. We are still on his trail,” he added.State of the investigation Police spokesman SSP Ranjith Gunasekera said that they have received more than 680 complaints from depositors and they have identified 4100 who have invested with Sakvithi.“From what we know, he has collected over 108 million rupees but that figure can be much higher,” he said. “From the information we have received, he is in Chennai and we have informed Interpol about him,” he said.According to Gunasekera, the Interpol is operating in 186 countries but he said that in order for them to make an arrest someone should tip off Interpol. “Since they have so much work on their hands, they will not be able to take any action without a tip off but we are confident that we will be able to apprehend him,” he said.Meanwhile, the Police have arrested five individuals, four male and one female, who were working for Sakvithi. “We are not trying to arrest everyone who was employed, we are only targeting individuals who can incriminate Sakvithi,” Police spokesman saidThe idea that the Central Bank did not do enough to stop these fraudulent financial scams, is a very popular sentiment among many. Although after this incident the Central Bank has named six unauthorised finance institutions that are operating in the country, many feel that the Central bank should have taken this step before. But, as Director Supervision of Non Banking Financial Institution S. S. Ratnayake said, men like Sakvithi were using ingenious ways to exploit the legal loop holes. Ratnayake added that, some time back, the Central Bank had asked Sakvithi to put an end to his Financial Institute, but he started the same business in a different form.“His new method was to sign an agreement with the depositor in which the depositor is termed as an “investor” who deposits his money for the purpose of obtaining employment,” he said. “So, the monthly interest he gets, whether it is 6000 or 600,000 it is called “his monthly salary.” When we heard about this arrangement, we started a new inquiry and it is during this time that he has gone abroad,” he added. Ratnayake added that the Central Bank was hesitant to take more direct action because several such unlicensed financial institutes have taken the Central Bank to courts several times and obtained favourable results.“Once, when the Central Bank confiscated documents of Okanda Finance, they went to courts and obtained a favourable judgment. Their argument was that there is no law that prevented from someone from giving a loan to another,” he said. “But we have identified these institutes and have constantly informed the public about the existence and activities through media. Some financial institutions have gone to courts claiming that C.B. has no right to publish such advertisements causing harm to their business and the thing is that the courts have repeatedly accepted their claims,” he added.
No comments:
Post a Comment