FCID Filed Charges Against Sri Lanka’s Former Ambassador to Russia

The Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) has filed charges, in the Fort Magistrate’s Court, against Sri Lanka’s former Ambassador to Russia Udayanga Weeratunga in connection with  his alleged involvement in the controversial MiG deal. The charges were filed on 12 th October 2016.

They point out that, Weeratunga, deputy Ambassador Kulasena Thanthirige and two Ukrainians representing the Ukrainian State-owned aerospace manufacturing company ‘Yuzhmash’, signed a deal to purchase MiG aircraft for the Sri Lankan Air Force (SLAF) on July 26, 2006, two weeks after he was appointed, by the then UPFA government, as the Sri Lankan envoy to Russia.
According to the FCID, the deal was signed on the night of July 26 at Weeratunga’s official residence in Moscow. The FCID filed the charges on 12 October.

The FCID further revealed that after the deal was signed Weeratunga personally brought the document to Sri Lanka and obtained the signature of then Air Force Commander and returned to Russia with the document.
According to the FCID, the new Ukrainian Government has been notified about the MiG investigation.
The FCID is seeking an international arrest warrant for Weeratunga. An earlier request for such a warrant, made on 30 September, was rejected by the Fort Magistrate, Lanka Jayaratne, on the grounds that Weeratunga had not been named as a suspect.