The Registrar of the Minuwangoda Magistrate’s Court has been arrested by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) over allegations of aiding and abetting the acceptance of a bribe in connection with the case of former Deputy Minister Sarana Gunawardena.
According to CIABOC, the arrest forms part of an ongoing investigation into an alleged attempt to secure a suspended prison sentence for Gunawardena.
The investigation previously resulted in the arrest of Chinari Lakmanthi Hettiarachchi, Gunawardena’s wife, who is accused of offering Rs. 50,000 to an office assistant attached to the Colombo High Court in an alleged attempt to influence the sentence imposed on her husband. She was subsequently remanded until October 6 by the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court.
Investigators had earlier informed court that messages recovered from the office assistant’s mobile phone allegedly contained communications relating to the arrangement, including information concerning the transfer of money.
The latest arrest has widened the scope of the investigation, with the Minuwangoda Magistrate’s Court Registrar now accused of aiding and abetting the alleged acceptance of the bribe, according to CIABOC.
The bribery investigation is linked to corruption cases against Gunawardena, who previously served as a deputy minister and headed the Development Lotteries Board.
In June, the Colombo High Court sentenced Gunawardena to an effective 16 years of rigorous imprisonment after finding him guilty in four corruption cases relating to the procurement of vehicles on a rental basis in 2006. The court also imposed fines totalling Rs. 1.8 million.
The cases involved allegations that the vehicle rental arrangements caused financial losses to the State while providing undue benefits to vehicle owners.
