Former Minister Johnston Fernando has been taken into custody by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) over his involvement with an illegally assembled luxury vehicle. He appeared at the CID earlier today (October 23) to provide a statement regarding an unregistered BMW, allegedly linked to him, which was recently discovered parked under suspicious circumstances at a luxury hotel in Colombo.
A petition filed by Fernando to prevent his arrest in this case was reviewed yesterday (October 22), during which his attorneys informed the court that he was ready to cooperate with the CID by giving a statement.
In a separate matter, the Colombo High Court also issued an arrest warrant for Fernando today, as he failed to attend a hearing related to allegations of misusing employees of ‘Lanka Sathosa’ for election work between 2010 and 2014. Fernando, along with two others, is accused of involving 153 Sathosa employees in political activities while he was the Minister of Co-operatives Internal Trade, which allegedly cost the government Rs. 40 million.
When the case was brought before Colombo High Court judge Manjula Thilakartne this morning (October 23), an arrest warrant was issued for Johnston Fernando due to his failure to appear in court.
His lawyer explained to the court that Fernando was at the CID, giving a statement concerning the unregistered luxury car allegedly linked to him, which had been discovered parked at a luxury hotel in Colombo.
