Supporting documents: The hurdle in Mahendran’s extradition | Page 2 | Sunday Observer

Supporting documents: The hurdle in Mahendran’s extradition

24 March, 2019

Certain supporting documents for the extradition of former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran needed to be developed afresh which was the reason for the unexpected delays, authoritative sources at the Attorney General’s Department said.

The sources said that Mahendran’s indictment was part of the supporting documents which the Singapore government had sought to consider the extradition of the former Central Bank Chief.

Mahendran is wanted in a multi-million dollar insider trading case currently being heard before a Sri Lankan court.

Responding to a query by the Sunday Observer as to the reasons for the delay in submitting the paperwork to seek his extradition, the AG’s Department official said that some of the other documents required by the Singaporean government under its extradition law, too had to be prepared afresh.

President Maithripala Sirisena at a recent event flayed the Singapore government for lack of support to get down the former Governor to face the trial against him.

In response, a Singapore Foreign Ministry spokesman said they were waiting for the paperwork from the Sri Lankan side to proceed with the request, Singapore’s Straits Times reported.

Arjun Aloysius, Mahendran’s son-in-law and Kasun Palisena, the CEO of Perpetual Treasuries Limited, the company owned by Aloysius involved in the alleged insider trading was in remand prison for ten months before they were bailed in January, this year. Mahendran, a Singapore national was named a key suspect in the case in February 2018 but by then he had fled the country.

A Presidential Commission probe into the case had found, due to manipulations of bond auctions in 2015 and 2016, the State had lost over Rs. 11.5 billion.

A Foreign Ministry official said that the extradition of Mahendran is being handled by the AG’s department and they could not use diplomatic channels in a case pursued under extradition laws.

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