Court directs CID to seek valuation on Sicille Kotelawala’s gold jewellery

February 27, 2016, 8:46 pm 

Seated on a wheelchair, Mrs. Sicille Kotelawala clasps a cross after she was re-remanded till April 27 by the Colombo High Court last week.(Pic by Saman Abesiriwardana)

by Suresh Perera

The CID was directed by Colombo Chief Magistrate Gihan Pilapitiya to seek a valuation certificate from the National Gem and Jewellery Authority (NGJA) on the gold jewellery belonging to Mrs. Sicille Priya Kamini Kotelawala, the wife of former Ceylinco Group Chairman, Lalith Kotelawala.

The judicial order was given by the Chief Magistrate to determine the exact financial value of the stock of gold items, when Mrs. Kotelawala was produced in Courts on Thursday on a charge of defrauding Rs. 4.3 billion in depositors’ funds in F&G Property Developers.

Amongst the jewellery recovered by the CID from a safety deposit locker of a government-owned bank at Union Place were 22 gold bangles, seven gold necklaces, 21 diamond studded gold rings, 51 gold earrings, 15 gold pendants, one gold biscuit, five gloves made in gold, two gold wristwatches, one gold lady’s heels, two gem studded gold earrings, one bangle with gold carvings, four gem studded gold saree clips and four gold hairpins.

The Chief Magistrate made the order after considering the submissions by the Counsel representing the aggrieved parties that the jewellery be auctioned and depositors repaid with the funds realized.

The CID had opened the safety deposit locker at the Union Place branch of the bank in Colombo 2 on September 27, 2010 and submitted a report to Court.

Sicille Kotelawala, who was produced in Court by prisons officials, was re-remanded till March 9.

The CID told Court that it was not possible to record a statement due to her poor health condition and sought more time to do so.

Meanwhile, Colombo High Court Judge Manilal Waidyatilleke on Tuesday rejected an application for bail and re-remanded Mrs. Kotelawala till April 27 in connection with the Golden Key Credit Card case, after taking into consideration the fact that the accused had evaded Courts for four years.

The accused was brought to Court in an ambulance from the Colombo National Hospital, where she is undergoing treatment. Thereafter, she was transferred to a wheelchair and escorted to Court by prison officers.

Appearing on behalf of Mrs. Kotelawala, Senior Counsel Saliya Peiris told Court that his client had acted as the non-executive director of Golden Key Credit Card Company and tendered her resignation on October 2008.

He said that his client traveled to Singapore on December 22, 2008 for medical treatment and subsequently traveled to the United Kingdom for further treatment. She was suffering from critical cardiac problems and a psychiatric issue.

However, Senior State Counsel Dilan Ratnayake appearing on behalf of the Attorney General objected to the accused being released on bail. The accused was absconding for more than four years.

Jaliya Samarasinghe, Counsel for Golden Key Depositors’ Association said that it was not the accused, but Golden Key depositors who are suffering from ‘psychiatric issues’. He also raised objections to the accused being granted bail.

Taking into consideration the submissions made, the High Court Judge denied bail to the accused, the wife of the chief shareholder of the Golden Key Credit Card Company.

Lalith Kotelawala and Golden Key Credit Card Company (GKCCC) Board of Directors have been indicted in the Colombo High Court on charges of criminal misappropriation and criminal breach of trust.

The Attorney General had framed charges against Kotelawala and others under the Penal Code and Finance Companies Act for the offences they had allegedly committed from March 1999 to December 2008.

Kotelawala and the GKCCC Board of Directors were charged with conspiring to misappropriate in connivance with Nallanthuwan, one of the suspects in the magisterial inquiry into the alleged misappropriation of depositors funds worth Rs. 26 billion belonging to the GKCC. Nallanthuwan died when the magisterial inquiry was ongoing.