Yoshitha Rajapaksa, Rohan Weliwita, Nishantha Ranatunga and two others, who were arrested on charges of money laundering, have been further remanded till February 25 by the Kaduwela Magistrate’s Court.
Attorney-at- Law Premanath C. Dolawatte, who is representing Yoshitha Rajapaksa, said that a bail application was filed on behalf of his client, however it was rejected by the court.
Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s second son Yoshitha, a navy lieutenant, was taken into custody by authorities for questioning about dealings at a private television channel, Carlton Sports Network (CSN) on January 30.
The channel’s Chairman Rohan Weliwita and former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Nishantha Ranatunga were also arrested following interrogation on the same day.
They were remanded in custody for two weeks after being produced at court.
The arrests followed months of investigations into the CSN station, which is accused of illegally using government equipment and vehicles for its daily operations and failing to pay billions of rupees in taxes.
The FCID commenced investigations on March 15, 2015 according to a complaint submitted by the the ‘Citizens for a Just Society’ to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) accusing CSN of money laundering and misuse of state property.
Minister of Law and Order and Southern Development Sagala Ratnayake on Sunday said that upon examining the emails sent with regard to company transactions, it was uncovered that Yoshitha Rajapaksa had operated as the Chairman and main decision maker of the company.
