A group of depositors today denounced statements made by former Ceylinco Chairman Lalith Kotelawala, and said that the ‘rich and powerful have ensured that they stand above the law’.
Lalith Kotelawala
” We deposited our hard earned money. I am 96 now and our lives have been ruined by this swindler. We earned our money through blood sweat and tears and we havent got anything back. We only want our money back and to live and die peacefully” Mala Perera a 96 year old depositor told the media.
Earlier, Lalith Kotelawala in an interview telecast on the government owned Independent Television Network (ITN) said that everyone who deposited in Golden Key had deposited “Black money“.
” This is not black money, this is our hard earned money. I am a government servant and struggled for 35 years to make this money and I invested it in Golden Key. I am 71 now and my life is completely lost as a result of the actions of this rogue” M. Nanayakkara said.
The depositors asked as to why no steps have been taken yet to arrest Sicille Kotelawala, the wife of Chairman Lalith Kotelawala despite repeated court orders to that effect.
” Why has she not been arrested yet?. She was a director of the company and is currently living on the funds that they swindled from us. The British High Commission wrote to us saying that the government of Sri Lanka has not requested extradition” the depositors said.
Speaking further, they said that Lalith Kotelawala was a scammer, and had used various methods to hide his assets and still be in control of them.
” There is a fund called CIESOT which Lalith Kothelawala initially declared as one of his assets. They first agreed to give the assets amounting 6 billion to the fund. Then suddenly they got agitated and said the fund was for the employees of Ceylinco Insurance which is a blatant lie” Dushani Hapugoda Chairman of one of the associations said.
” Ceylinco Insurnace itself had written in 2011 to the SEC and said that this was not owed to the employees. Now they have all changed their tune. These are rich and powerful people, and they even had the power to ensure that the former Chief Justice who was to give an order on CIESOT stepped down from the case.
Mohan Pieris who was sitting as Chief Justice at the time stepped down from hearing the case in July last year, after what he termed a ” scurrilous letter” being circulated.
The three judge bench headed by Pieris was on the verge of giving an order on the controversial fund CIESOT. The move eventually resulted in a protracted legal battle on the fund.
Earlier, the Golden Key Task Force informed the Supreme Court that they would complete the repayment of the depositors by February 2015.
” What is required is a presidential commission to investigate what happened to over 45 billion rupees that Lalith Kotelawala and his cohorts swindled. Thats what needs to be investigated. Not one person has been held liable for this crime” Hapugoda said.
When questioned by journalists as to the role played by the Golden Key Depositors, during the illegal impeachment of former Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake, Hapugoda said that they called for her resignation on sound reasoning related to the case.
” We only want justice. We want our money back and these rouges have not been made to pay for it yet. They have to pay the money. The law should be equal and for 7 years we have been in ruins” the depositors said.
ela kolla / February 20, 2015
this born again rogue deserves worse…
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Leelagemalli / February 21, 2015
I listened to his interveiw on Swarnawahini lately, There, I heard Mahinda Rajapakshe has looted the billions of the assets of Kotelawala. That is no fair at all. All these reverberate on Mahinda Rajapakshe soon.
A man who ran hundreds of companies – can know each every issue of the company should be very clear to all human beings. But the manner MR and thugs looted Kotalawalas billions should be punished by srilanken law. There, people would feel that Rajapakshes are given justice.
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Kakka / February 21, 2015
hello Leelagemalli, this fraud and show off KOTALAWELA started giving /splashing ,on the Rajapaksa clan, to the tune of 650.000.000 rupees, long before Rajapaksa started steeling from him. Now how did Sudarshani Fernandopulle, save 300,000,000 rupees she is a doctor, husband was a politician. Where are their tax files?
Can the income tax people answer this question?
Mervin Silva, had 40,000,000 how? Income tax, this should be your job to find out.
Long before Rajapaksa started looting, Prasanna Hennayake introduced ,Ceciliya Kotalawela to Shiranthi Rajapaksa. Shiranthi told Prasanna Hennayake, she wanted to go shopping. Hence the introduction. Cecilia jumped at the chance, took Greedy Shiranthi the Gold thief to New York, kept her in the Waldorf Astoria and paid for all her shopping, this was how the Rajapaksa clan first got a taste of Waldorf Astoria. From the on words they started looting us to take all and sundry, including beauticians and hair dressers etc etc to stay at the Waldorf Astoria!
Hennayake’s wife made Kiribath for temple trees at an exhorbitant price. So he helped, but got played out in the end, may be for the Kiribath money as well.
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Leelagemalli / February 23, 2015
But I really dont think it is fair Rajapakshe to name that stadium by his name – cold bloodledly forgetting ignoring the one who donated to build that.
Mahinda Rajano has no limits when it goes for revenge on anyone.
That he did it with CBK or any other leaders sofar. But this time, the bugger was caught by all means – by the racket made by all.
I trust the way MY3 MOVES can bring peace sustainable peace… he is so gentle, … human .. and calm and quiet.. comparable to former Premier Singh in India. No show off, but the due will be done by every means.
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Gune / February 20, 2015
I used to have a lot of business dealing with the Ceylinco Company for years as they were a big customer of our products. Every time I left one of those lengthy board meetings I used to wonder how this company ever did business. They were such a waste of time with board directors all pandering to the chairman and would do or say anything to please him. I still think LK was a genuine man who was taken for a big ride by his own staff. The company grew so big that he lost control and devolved management to 2nd level mangers not realising that legally he was accountable to the people and state.
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Summa / February 21, 2015
” Lalith Kotelawala in an interview telecast on the government owned Independent Television Network (ITN) said that everyone who deposited in Golden Key had deposited “Black money“.”
If this statement is true, shouldn’t this swindler be arrested and put into jail for helping Money Laundering!
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thrishu / February 21, 2015
I am not a depositor, thank God. Doing business with Sri Lankan is high risk. If this man is genuine and honest, the first thing he should do is to declare publicly where his wife Cecile is hiding and what she doing with the money that both of them have stashed away in Swiss Accounts or in Bermuda or some other haven.
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shankar / February 22, 2015
Thrishu
what do you mean hiding.Everyone knows she is in london.A previous commentator has said the british governemnt has not been asked by srilanka for her extradition.So ask why mahinda was protecting her.Or is ti sriranthi because she has waldorf memories as per another comment.
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len / February 21, 2015
Pot calling Kettle what? Best example of a hypocrite.Type of rhetoric remind me of ex-pat Lankans living in Western countries and bad mouthing the West.
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Jagath Fernando / February 21, 2015
Golden Key has no assets other than from the sale of the CIESOT shares of Ceylinco Insurance.
Greedy Depositors should understand this.
A good lesson for depositing in companies not regulated.
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Kakka / February 21, 2015
jagath Fernando Kotalawela was in the habit of transferring money from one company to the other . So money has been used by the group. Dushyanthi isn’t not quite correct. Lalith Kotalawela owned 33% shares in Ceylinco INSURENCE prior to 2007? Check the records then suddenly his shareholding vanished and got transferred to CEYSOT. Where the sole trustees are Cecilia, Kotalawela a and Jegasothy. From where was LK finding money to give 650,000,000 to Rajapaksa? From what his father left him?
So greedy must be you. Wanting your own money back is not greed.
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shankar / February 22, 2015
jagath,you indeed seem to be an arsehole.The big depositers who have deposited large sums may have known that it is not regulated but how does the small ones,the mums and dads who were saving for a rainy day knowing that.They see it is part of ceylinco group,a prestigious name and go and deposit there.So find fault with the government for allowing unregulated company to operate,without blaming these small depositers.
because the government has the duty to regulate and they did not they have a responsibility to pay the small depositers(less than 5 million)all their money back.They should start with the depositers who have less than rupees 100000 and pay them all and clear their names off the register.Then those less than rs 200000 and so on in increments of 100000 rupees and get them out of the way.In this manner they can clear off a large number of poor middle class depositers.The large depositers , i have just like you not much sympathy for,let them sort it out.
If the governemnt first pays off these small depositers then they can look into the assets and sell them at the correct time at the correct price and reimburse the state coffers and if any money left go on paying the depositers in the same incremental method i proposed.
have a heart you bugger for people who are suffering,otherwise you become very difficult to differentiate from the animal kingdom.
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Backlash / February 21, 2015
In the beginning I thought Lalith K is not a crook – after all he came from a highly respected and very rich family. My friends who knew him told me he seems to have bitten more than he could chew since he was not up to it in high finance. One of them had been in the same Accountancy class as Lalith K. But when in the TV interview he recently said all those who trusted him with their deposits were those engaged in black money I thought the despicable, egoistic rascal should be hung. I know a family in Kollupitiya – once members of the elite class – with 2-3 cars and children in good schools. They are now in the streets and going around by public transport. There may be thousands like them and this shameless rogue calls their hard earned money as black money.
If the current dispensation of Sirisena-Ranil want they can cause action to pay back the entire Rs.28 billion for the nearly 9,000 deposit holders. Paying these suffering folk 30-40% as final payment – the formulae of those Chartered Accountants have come out with – after 6 years – is daylight robbery. That these depositors have got only 3 instalments of Rs.100,000 each in all these years itself is very unfair and unsatisfactory. Many influential depositors have forcibly taken some of Lalith K’s properties, movables etc using thuggery. The vast number of innocent depositors are left in the lurch. The Rajapakses were only interested in stealing the Rajagiriya Eye Hospital, the 45-storied Hyat Towers (opposite Temple Trees) at give away prices etc. After all they are thieves and highway men by the generations.
Will the young Finance Minister Ravi K, Chartered Accountant himself,
bring justice and immediate relief to these suffering folk – something which even 2 CJ’s came forward to do but were smitten and strayed by the big bucks involved. It will be wonderful if the new government come to the aid of these 9,000 + depositors who are more in the streets demonstrating in the sun/rain – out of sheer desperation. Several of them have died out of sheer worry and heart burn. Some live in bus stands and the open.
Backlash
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Dr.Goebells / February 21, 2015
In his recent interview , he said quite nonchalantly that he gave the former President Rs.100 million to fund his stadium in Homagama . He was playing Santa Claus
with other people’s money .He clearly does not regret the devastation he has caused to thousands of families .
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old codger / February 21, 2015
I think both sides should take the blame equally. LK and Sicille should be prosecuted for fraud, but didn’t these supposedly intelligent depositors know that it is impossible to pay 30% interest on a fixed deposit?
Maybe some of these depositors are pensioners, but there are people in the list of depositors who have put in tens of million. I really can’t understand why someone with that much money needs 30% interest on it.Do the sums – one could spend 100,000 per month for 20 years with 25 million. How long do they expect to live? This may sound harsh but this is the truth.
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Backlash / February 21, 2015
The Interest paid by GKCCC was, on the average, between 15-17% only.
At the latter stages, when they suspected the game was up they increased this marginally – certainly never to 30% levels.
Backlash
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pethappu / February 21, 2015
You are correct, most people I knew got 17% but I think those people with enormous deposits , like the Fernandopulles, Choksys, Mervin Silva’s, Navaloka, Aravinda De Silva etc etc may have got 29-30%
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pethappu / February 21, 2015
Old Codger, if you read any thing ,with out arriving at ridiculous conclusions, you should have realized, when banks were paying 18-19% interest any one who was paying 30% will have to crash.
Only if you had 10,000,000 and over they paid 25% if you had those mega big bucks ! May be over 20 or 25 million rupees , they may have paid the 30%
Only about 10-15 % of people like Fernandopulles ( Guwan Palan commissions) Mervin Silva ( drug Money) Navaloka ?? Etc etc had these big bucks most people got 1% more than the banks interest.
So do not jump to conclusions and voice your opinions
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old codger / February 21, 2015
Pethappu:
That is exactly what I meant- no company could have paid 30% without crashing, and crash it did. If GK paid 30% on very large deposits, what happened is obvious.
If banks were paying 17-19 % as you say, what was the necessity to invest in GK ? I know reputed finance companies like LOLC were paying 20% at the time. I myself invested in The Finance at 22% but luckily the FD matured before they got in trouble.
There is no cure for stupidity.
Lalith K was simply playing the suckers.
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Vedamanikkam / February 24, 2015
Are the parties involved or got themselves involved in this case genuine ?
Are they interested in getting their money back, or interested in getting their money back !
Restore the status quo of his assets, back to him and ask him to pay what he had to pay !
From their onwards, let the law take his turn !
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Seneviratne / November 5, 2015
Suramya K pulled millions of dollars from GKSS to Australia on 100% bogus software transactions. All that was under SK’s signature. When SK and Khavan were taken into PSD all that would have been taken by MR. In Mount Lavinia open court the judge proclaimed, after a CID investigation ordered by himself, that the EPF, ETF PAYE are totally responsible for taking bribes and not informing the government for 4 years though there duty regulations specifically says they got to do it within 3 months for the government to intervene on recovery measures. Hence the government, which represents EPF, ETF and the PAYE, is totally responsible for massive rights violations of the employees and the depositors for the trauma they are going through up to date.
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