Golden Key credit card case:

Notice issued on OIC, CCD

SANDASEN Marasinghe

Colombo High Court Judge Deepali Wijesundara yesterday issued notice on the Officer in Charge of the Commercial Crime Division of the Criminal Investigation Department to appear before Court in connection with the bail application filed by the Chairman of the Ceylinco Consolidated Group of Companies.

Filing the bail application through Attorney Prasad W. Sirimane, Lalith Kotelawela cited OIC of the Commercial Crime Division of the CID M. Abeysinghe and the Attorney General as the respondents.

Kotelawela said in his application that the Golden Key Credit Card Company, one of the companies of his group was established in 1977. Now he was acting as the founder chairman. Kavan Perera became the Deputy Chairman of the the Golden Key Credit Card Company in 1999. The decisions with regard to the company were taken by him and the director board.

After November 2008 Kavan Perera requested money as there was a trend to withdraw the deposits by the deposit holders from the Golden Key Credit Card Company with the Sakvithi's scandal. Thereafter Rs 860 million was given to the company. But it was observed that there were a large number of depositors at the gate of the company on December 15 to 18.

When inquired of the full amount of the deposits of the company Kavan Perera stated that it was around Rs 5.6 billion. But thereafter at a top class executives' meeting on December 19 it was revealed the deposits of the company amounted to Rs 26 billion or more.

According to the bail application at that stage it was revealed that there was a misappropriation of the deposits of the Company and the case was handed over to the CID on December 20, 2008 on the instructions of Kotelawela and a case was filed at the Mount Lavinia Magistrate Court. A list of the assets of Golden Key Company and connected companies were submitted to the Attorney General's Department.

The company was ready to settle the deposits of the deposit holders after establishing a trust and transferring the assets to the said trust.

Kotelawela in the application further said that he had been granted a surety bail of Rs 2.5 million but later he was remanded on February 23 by the Mount Lavinia Magistrate without a request by the Attorney General.

He further stated that he was a heart and diabetic patient. He prayed before the Court to grant him bail considering all these grounds.