Settlement of a Fraud

$104.00

  • Settlement of a Fraud
  • Colombo Hilton Hotel Construction
  • Fraud on Sri Lanka Government
  • By Nihal Sri Ameresekere
  • Published: April, 2012
  • Format: Perfect Bound Softcover(B/W)
  • Size: 8.25×11
  • Pages: 776
  • ISBN: 9781467897204
  • Our Price : $104.00 ($84.00 + Shipping $20.00)
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Settlement of a Fraud

This Book contains shocking revelations, on how third world developing countries become subservient to economically powerful giants, even having to cover-up major frauds perpetrated on sovereign States and its impoverished people. Author discovers fraud in the construction of Colombo Hilton Hotel, by Japanese companies, Mitsui & Co. Ltd., Taisei Corporation, and Architects, Kanko Kikaku Sekkeisha Yozo Shibata & Associates, with technical assistance from Hilton International USA. Author successfully  establishes a strong case of fraud before the highest judiciary, with Japanese unable to answer Interrogatories ordered by Court. Attorney Generals and Secretaries of Finance, at the behest of successive Presidents of the country, require such fraud to be settled, without prosecution. Consequently Author insists and obtains write-offs of US $ 207 million in June 1995 on fraudulent claims of the Japanese on State Guarantees. Author persists on several conditions, which the Government agrees, including an undertaking by the State to take legal action against Members of Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) for dereliction of duties on inaction on such fraud in a public company, notwithstanding Author’s complaints. This condition affected Justice Minister, subsequently Minister of External Affairs, as a former SEC Member, resulting in him precipitating perverse controversies, causing colossal loss to the company and the State, frustrating the settlement, resulting in the Author suing him, and a courageous Justice ruling in Author’s favour in striking-out the Answer of his own Minister, for duplicitous stances; the courageous Justice later being gunned down by a drug cartel. Author in his crusade, risking his life, to combat corruption at highest echelons of society, faces malicious capricious actions, with vexatious litigations, resulting in him applying to Court to wind-up the company, and the Government arbitrarily unilaterally enacting law to acquire the company !

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As had been arranged, I went to the Official Residence of President D.B. Wijetunga, the ‘President House’ at Janadhipathi Mawatha, early morning on the next day, 17th June 1994.

Gamini Wijesekere, came out and ushered me towards the Office Room of President D.B. Wijetunga. To my utter shock, I saw seated in the Lobby, which I passed, Attorney General, Tilak Marapana, President’s Counsel, Deputy. Solicitor General, A.S.M. Perera, President’s Counsel, and of all persons, K.N. Choksy P.C., M.P., then Minister of Constitutional Affairs.

I promptly intimated to Gamini Wijesekere, that I had agreed to meet only President D.B. Wijetunga and him, and if the Attorney General, Tilak Marapana, President’s Counsel was to join, then I should have come along with my Senior Counsel, K. Kanag-Isvaran, President’s Counsel. Gamini Wijesekere then having assured me, that the discussion would  only be between President D.B. Wijetunga, me and him, escorted me alone into the Office Room of President D.B. Wijetunga.

President D.B. Wijetunga spontaneously warmly greeted and welcomed me, and invited me to take a seat at his table, together with Gamini Wijesekere. Having exchanged pleasantries, President D.B. Wijetunga intimated that the Hilton Hotel Cases of mine had become a major controversial politically adverse issue, which would affect the oncoming General Elections in August 1994, and that therefore he wishes to have the Hilton Hotel Cases settled in view of such political setback.

I promptly explained to President D.B. Wijetunga, that I had acted as a professional in the national and public interest, and that I am least concerned about the political ramifications. I further stated that if there was any political fall out, it had not been caused by me, but on the contrary, by none other than K.N. Choksy, P.C. M.P., his own Minister of Constitutional Affairs; and further that prior to instituting my first derivative action in law in September 1990, I had received clearance to proceed thereon from none other than, Ranjan Wijeratne, former General Secretary of the United National Party, who was fully apprised by me of the perverse conduct and actions of K.N. Choksy P.C., M.P.

Having prepared myself for a very brief and blunt presentation, I promptly showed President D.B. Wijetunga the two one page Medical Certificate type, Certificate of Completion and Final Certificate given by the Japanese Architects, Kanko Kikaku Sekkeisha Yozo Shibata & Associates, and I posed the question to President D.B. Wijetunga – that ‘in the absence of Final Measurements and Specified Bills of Quantities to support such Certificates, as to how I, a professional accountant, could approve payments of such large extents of public monies under State Guarantees ?’ Confronted with such blunt thrust of my question, President D.B. Wijetunga, himself, spontaneously had to point blankly concede, that no payments could even be made on the basis of such certifications !

President D.B. Wijetunga, then inquired as to whether he could invite Attorney General, Tilak Marapana, President’s Counsel to join to explain such position. I had no option, but to agree. However, I pointed out, that I am without the presence of my Senior Counsel, K. Kanag-Isvaran, President’s Counsel. Attorney General, Tilak Marapana, President’s Counsel then came and joined the discussion, and having not being personally familiar with the facts, he sought to invite Deputy Solicitor General, A.S.M. Perera, who was seated outside in the Lobby. I agreed.

During such discussion, on three occasions, Attorney General, Tilak Marapana, President’s Counsel pleaded to invite K.N. Choksy P.C., M.P.,  to join, pointing out that he was the Minister of Constitutional Affairs, and had been kept waiting in the Lobby. I sternly objected, asserting that he ought not be in the Lobby, but in jail, and that action in such regard ought to have been taken by Attorney General, Tilak Marapana, President’s Counsel, himself. This silenced him !

After the discussion was over, President D.B. Wijetunga, pointing out that, since the discussion was now over, inquired whether he could now socially invite K.N. Choksy P.C., M.P. to join, as he had been  waiting to participate in the discussion. Since the request came from President D.B. Wijetunga, himself, I had to acquiesce thereto.

K.N. Choksy P.C., M.P. then came in and   President D.B. Wijetunga welcomed him saying – ‘Come, come, Cassy, our friend Nihal is here !’.  K.N. Choksy P.C., M.P.  came in and sat down. He then began lamenting that he was never a Director of HDL, whilst the construction of the Colombo Hilton Hotel was underway, and that his name had been ruined in the media !

I then staunchly blurted out to President D.B. Wijetunga – ‘If as stated, he was not a Director of HDL during the construction of the Colombo Hilton Hotel, then why the hell did he object to and oppose my actions on the matter of the fraud in the construction of the Colombo Hilton Hotel ?  K.N. Choksy P.C., M.P. shamefully pleaded – ‘ No, no, Sir, I never objected or opposed’.

Such blatant lie provoked me. I stood-up and produced documents, which I was ready with, showing several instances, where K.N. Choksy P.C., M.P., had obstructed and opposed me, and that he had even attempted to have my Case, filed in the national and public interest, dismissed in the Court of Appeal, to enable the full payment of monies to be made to the Mitsui & Co. Ltd., and Taisei Corporation, under the State Guarantees.

Having well and truly instantaneously refuted and proved the blatant falsehood uttered by K.N. Choksy P.C., M.P., I raised my voice and asserted to President D.B. Wijetunga – ‘Mr. President, your Minister of  Constitutional Affairs is a damn liar’!

Several parties endeavoured to influence and/or pressurize me into withdrawing my two derivative actions in law, District Court of Colombo Cases Nos. 3155/Spl and 3231/Spl, even offering a payment of over 5% of the write-off, which said write-off, I was insistently and persistently requiring of Mitsui & Co. Ltd., and Taisei Corporation to be afforded to HDL and the Government of Sri Lanka, as its Guarantor, as morefully borne out hereinbefore.

The schematic modus-operandi suggested was for me to instruct my Senior Counsel, K. Kanag-Isvaran, President’s Counsel, and De Silva & Perera, my Attorneys-at-Law, to refrain from appearing in the District Court of Colombo, when these two Cases are being called, so that the Defendants’ Counsel would move for the dismissal of the Cases on the grounds of non-appearance by me, my Counsel and Attorneys-at-Law.

The write-off I obtained subsequently in June 1995 for HDL, and more importantly for the Government of Sri Lanka, as its Guarantor, was US $ 207 Mn., and the minimum payment thereon to me, as was so offered of 5%, had I acquiesced to the foregoing modus-operandi, would have amounted to US $ 10.35 Mn., in June 1995, a colossal sum of money indeed !

The foregoing was absolutely within my own unfettered power and control, quite unlike in instances of persons peddling deals influencing Presidents and/or Ministers and/or Secretaries, to earn commissions on procurements and/or contracts of the State. I steadfastly resisted and desisted such endeavours by those peddling deals to earn commissions thereon. On the contrary, I disposed of certain Lands I had in the outskirts of the City of Colombo to finance litigation costs at that very time.

After the Media Conference on 30th June 1995, at which the Minister of Justice & Constitutional Affairs and Deputy Minister of Finance, G.L. Peiris, now Minister of External Affairs, endorsed and hailed the Settlement Agreements , even pompously holding out to purport to take credit therefor, when in actual fact he had had nothing, whatsoever, to do with the negotiations, formulation and finalization of the Settlement Agreements, subsequently within three weeks thereof, he had discovered a Condition in the Settlement Agreements, which personally affected him, since he had previously been a Member of the Securities & Commission of Sri Lanka, at the relevant time referred to in the said Condition.

Consequently, unconcerned of anything else Minister of Justice & Constitutional Affairs & Deputy Minister of Finance, G.L. Peiris, now Minister of External Affairs, in desperation ‘to save his skin’, precipitated a perverse controversy and puerilely endeavoured to scuttle the Settlement Agreements, which were immensely beneficial to Hotel Developers (Lanka) Ltd.,  and the Government of Sri Lanka, as the Guarantor.

Regardless of the foregoing, and in complete violation of prevalent Ministerial Procedures, the Minister of Justice & Constitutional Affairs and Deputy Minister of Finance, G.L. Peiris, now Minister of External Affairs, read out in Parliament a baseless, false, malicious and mala-fide Answer on 8th August 1995, from a prepared  Statement, which he, himself, had prepared to the Questions, which had been asked as aforesaid, very significantly and curiously just only on the previous day, i.e. 7th August 1995 by Mahinda Samarasinghe, Opposition United National Party Member of Parliament, now Minister of Plantations and Presidential Special Envoy for Human Rights.

The foregoing therefore begs the question, as to whether such perverse Answer was pre-prepared by the Minister of Justice & Constitutional Affairs and Deputy Minister of Finance, G.L. Peiris, now Minister of External Affairs, in the context of him being an affected party, as a former Member of the SEC by a Condition in the Settlement Agreements, and therefore as to whether  to enable the making of such false Answer in the Parliament of Sri Lanka the aforesaid Questions had been framed and given to be raised by Mahinda Samarasinghe, Opposition United National Party Member of Parliament, now Minister of Plantations and Presidential Special Envoy for Human Rights.

Consequently, Learned District Judge of Colombo, S.J.W. Ambeypitiya delivered Order on 30th July 1998, striking out the Answer of the Defendant, Minister of Justice & Deputy Minister of Finance, G.L. Peiris, now Minister of External Affairs, to my Plaint, and fixed this Case for ex-parte trial on 3rd September 1998, inter-alia, on the premise that the Defendant, Minister of Justice & Deputy Minister of Finance, G.L. Peiris had taken a duplicitous stance on his position, as the Deputy Minister of Finance.

Letters of Apology and Regret dated 21st October 1996, signed by the Government Nominee Director of HDL, P.B. Jayasundera, also then Deputy Secretary to the Treasury, and T. Ishibashi, Director of HDL, representing Mitsui & Co. Ltd., and Taisei Corporation, were issued to me by HDL, and ratified at the Meeting of the Board of Directors of HDL on 25th October 1996

On the next day, 23rd November 2000, Justice C.V. Wigneswaran informed that he had checked the said Judgment, and stated that he saw no reason, why he should not hear this Contempt Application, notwithstanding the objections of Solicitor General C.R. de Silva, President’s Counsel.

Appallingly, Justice C.V. Wigneswaran on an Application made by S. Sivarasa, President’s Counsel, supporting the Contempt Application of Cornel & Co. Ltd., concurred that the Contempt matter would be withdrawn, if the matters affecting Cornel & Co. Ltd., were settled –  was this not an instance of sheer abuse of the process of Court, blatantly condoned by Justice C.V. Wigneswaran ?

The following is a citation from “Swami Premananda; Avatar behind bars” by Adams Parsons

“With his hair tied on top of his head and a warm bearded smile for every visitor, it is hard to imagine this gentle Swami as capable of the heinous crimes alleged. But on 5th April 2005, the highest Court in India deemed that Premananda’s ‘double-life’ sentence for murder, rape and conspiracy will run consecutively without further appeal …… The Supreme Court Judges in Delhi branded Premananda a “devil” and a “monster”, even going beyond their powers to forbid in remission of his sentence or amnesty …….  a more mystical interpretation of the case surprisingly comes from a Supreme Court Judge in Sri Lanka, C.V. Wigneswaran, who is a long- time devotee of Premananda and one of many defence witnesses rejected by the Courts as a “wishful thinker” ”.

Addressing Chamal Rajapakse, Speaker of  Parliament of Sri Lanka, brother of President, Mahinda Rajapakse, also Minister of Finance, Opposition Tamil National Alliance Member of Parliament, M.A. Sumanthiran, Attorney-at-Law stated:

“What is pertinent to the matter under discussion is that what was filed five years ago is a matter of winding up of a company on the basis that the company has failed. So, if the task of judicial determination has been given to the Judiciary and if we respect the rule, if we respect the separation of powers in our Constitution, then this House ought not to take this up and pronounce upon a matter that is entirely within the competence of the court …. That is why I said this is an ad hominem legislation. In previous instances, Sir, you will be aware that even the Privy Council has ruled out as bad, any legislation that was recognized to be ad hominem and ad hoc …… When one reads this Determination, one is sad for the Supreme Court; for what the Supreme Court has been reduced to, at how they have pronounced upon this Bill without any material whatsoever placed before them. …… It is a sad indictment on the highest court of the land “

Ironically, Chamal Rajapakse, the Speaker of Parliament, as a then Opposition Member of Parliament of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, was one among many, who paid written tribute to me for my endeavours, vis-à-vis HDL, inter-alia, stating by his Letter dated 6th February 1992 thus;

“Nation’s tribute should be paid to you for exposing for the knowledge of the public, the fraud in the construction of the Hilton Hotel and the fraudulent attempt to siphon out public monies from the country”