Singalanka Standard Chemicals:

Second accused pleads guilty

Submitting financial statements on the forged signatures of auditors:

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC) has instituted action in the Magistrate's Court of Colombo Fort against the former Chairman and a key employee of Singalanka Standard Chemicals a Public Listed Company in 15 counts for conspiracy and for submitting the audited financial statements of the said company to the Colombo Stock Exchange on the forged signatures of the auditors for the financial years ended March 31, 2002 through to 2007.

When the matter was taken up before the Magistrate's Court, Colombo Fort recently, the second accused Kanepathipillai Ketheeshwaran pleaded guilty to five counts.

The Court imposed a fine of Rs. 50,000 each on the second accused for four of the counts and imposed a prison sentence of six months suspended for a period of five years on the fifth count. The Court re-issued summons against the first accused the former Chairman of Singalanka Standard Chemicals PLC Ratnaraja Navaratnam returnable on October 28, 2009 as he was absent and unrepresented.