Bank officer charged with misappropriation

Sandasen Marasinghe

A case has been filed against the monetary officer of a leading foreign private bank operating in Colombo for misusing nearly Rs 100 million.

The case was filed before the Colombo High Court against Punsiri Amal Gunatilake of Citibank on five counts.

According to the first count of the indictment he had misappropriated Rs 85.5 million between January 12, 2006 and April 6, 2006.

He has fraudulently made documents on February 20, 2006 stating the bank bought two million American Dollars at a foreign exchange rate of Rs 103.19 and sold them at a rate of Rs. 101.19

According to the third and fourth counts he had made fake documents on February 23, 2006 and March 10, 2006 that stated the bank bought two million American Dollars on each occasion at a foreign exchange rate of Rs 103.31 and 103.67 and sold them at a rate of Rs 101.31 and 101.67 respectively.

According to the fifth count he had made false documents on January 12, 2006 that stated the bank bought one million American Dollars at a foreign exchange rate of Rs 103.06 million and sold at a rate of Rs 101.06 million.

The investigation was conducted by the Criminal Investigation Department following a complaint lodged by the Deputy Chairman of the Bank Alexander Hapuarachchi.