The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) has informed the Colombo Magistrate’s Court that investigations are continuing into the alleged loss of more than USD 6.7 million to the government over the importation of substandard organic fertilizer during the administration of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
The case has been filed against former Minister of Agriculture Mahindananda Aluthgamage and other suspects over the alleged importation of a shipment containing 20,000 metric tonnes of substandard organic fertilizer from a Chinese company.
The case was taken up before Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama.
Aluthgamage, who is currently serving a prison sentence in connection with another case, was produced before court by prison officials.
CIABOC officials informed court that investigations were still ongoing and requested additional time to complete the probe and submit the relevant findings.
After considering the submissions, the Chief Magistrate ordered that the case be called again on December 4 and directed CIABOC to report the progress of the investigations to court on that date.
