{"id":206930,"date":"2019-12-12T11:33:00","date_gmt":"2019-12-12T06:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=206930"},"modified":"2019-12-19T14:21:06","modified_gmt":"2019-12-19T08:51:06","slug":"open-letter-to-daily-ft-editor-on-selective-expose-of-bank-other-wrongdoing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/open-letter-to-daily-ft-editor-on-selective-expose-of-bank-other-wrongdoing\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Letter To Daily FT Editor On Selective Expos\u00e9 Of Bank & Other Wrongdoing"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Amrit Muttukumaru<\/a> –<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Amrit Muttukumaru<\/p><\/div>\n

An open letter to Editor, \u2018Daily FT\u2019 on s<\/b>elective expos\u00e9 of bank & other wrongdoing<\/b><\/p>\n

Mr. Nisthar Cassim<\/p>\n

Editor<\/p>\n

‘Daily FT’<\/p>\n

12 December 2019<\/p>\n

Dear Mr. Cassim,<\/p>\n

Selective Expos\u00e9 of Bank & Other Wrongdoing<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

It is hugely disappointing that Sri Lanka\u2019s only stand–<\/i>alone <\/i>finance and business journal \u2018Daily FT\u2019 is selective<\/b> in its expos\u00e9 of alleged corporate and professional misdemeanor. The focus <\/b>of this article will be on some glaring examples related to commercial banks and CBSL \u2018Bank Supervision\u2019. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Given below is the link to the article \u201cExpos\u00e9: Hatton National Bank Robs Customers And Auctions Their Properties<\/span><\/strong><\/a>\u201d<\/i> published in the \u2018Colombo Telegraph\u2019 on 10 December 2019 for your necessary attention:<\/p>\n

This has been of no apparent interest to \u2018Daily FT\u2019 as was my article \u201cGovernor Indrajit\u2019s Stewardship \u2013 Hiding Forensic Audits & Other Issues<\/span><\/strong><\/a>\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

Given below is the link to my said article published in the \u2018Colombo Telegraph\u2019 on 5 December 2019: (click here<\/span><\/strong><\/a>)<\/p>\n

There has been no response to date from Governor Coomaraswamy who you have described as \u201c<\/i>Highly respected\u201d<\/i> when reporting his resignation with effect from 20 December.<\/p>\n

Alleged HNB Tax Evasion<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The \u2018Daily FT\u2019 has also shown no interest in pursuing the alleged \u2018HNB Tax Evasion\u2019 which was brought to the attention of CBSL Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy<\/span><\/strong><\/a> as far back as\u00a025 September 2017 to no avail. This was included in my said article.<\/p>\n

My e-mail in this connection to Jonathan Alles \u2013 HNB Managing Director\/CEO dated 10 November 2017 has been completely ignored by him.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the context of the allegation that then \u201cchairman of the bank Rani Jayamaha has also been able to identify the wrongdoing through an internal probe\u201d<\/i> I requested Jonathan Alles to confirm:<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201c(i) whether an \u201cinternal probe\u201d <\/i>took place? (ii) whether it identified any \u201cwrongdoing\u201d<\/i>? (iii) if so, what were the specific instances of \u201cwrongdoing\u201d<\/i>? (iv) what action was taken against those responsible for any \u201cwrongdoing\u201d<\/i>?<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

You could easily get to the bottom of the damning allegations concerning HNB as your regular columnist Dinesh Weerakkody<\/b><\/span><\/a> described as a \u2018thought leader\u2019 is the incumbent HNB Chairman (previously Chairman, Commercial Bank). You are seen with him as a \u2018moderator\u2019 in \u2018Fireside Chats\u2019 with leading business personalities.<\/p>\n

Other issues in my said article connected to CBSL \u2018Bank Supervision\u2019 relate to NDB Bank and\u00a0 <\/span>Sampath Bank.<\/p>\n

In my article I posed the question \u201cIs there anything in\u00a0<\/i>common\u00a0<\/i><\/b>between the alleged \u2018HNB Tax Evasion\u2019 and the alleged NDB misdemeanor?\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

The antics<\/b> of the \u2018Daily FT\u2019 is no surprise given the shameful conduct of its sister newspaper \u2018Daily Mirror\u2019. This includes falsely <\/b>claiming that an almost full page article (with large colour photo)\u00a0was ‘Courtesy’ of the ‘London Times’<\/b>. Its relatively unnoticeable ‘Clarification’ which referred to a mere \u201cinadvertence\u201d<\/i> was belatedly published as a result of my persistence<\/b>. The readers to date are unaware of the actual ‘source’ of this article! The owner of your publishing company (\u2018Wijeya Newspapers Limited\u2019) was the Chairman of the \u2018Press Complaints Commission of Sri Lanka\u2019 at that time. This is merely the tip of the iceberg!<\/p>\n

It is my personal view that under the circumstances, \u2018Colombo Telegraph\u2019 is doing an invaluable\u00a0service<\/b> to the people of Sri Lanka. It is also my opinion that some columnists in the mainstream media fight shy of contributing to \u2018Colombo Telegraph\u2019 fearing<\/b> the opening of a \u2018can of worms\u2019 in the \u2018comments\u2019 section!<\/p>\n

Yours faithfully,<\/p>\n

Amrit Muttukumaru<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

(Public Interest Activist)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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