More Facts Disclosed  in Udayanga’s Money Laundering Racket……

Criminal Investigation Department (CID) filed a case with the Supreme Court after an independent money laundering investigation conducted by them. Udayanga Weeratunga, is a suspect  in the 2006 “MiG deal” in which the Air Force was cheated into paying US$ 14.7 million into a shell company controlled by business associates of Weeratunga. The FCID claims that Weeratunga was complicit in the forgery of the contract for the MiG deal, and that he conspired with individuals in Singapore and Ukraine to mislead the Air Force into paying US $14.7 million for goods and services, where the Ukrainian government supplier says they received only US$7 million. The whereabouts of the remaining US$7.7 million are unknown, and are the subject of a wide ranging asset tracing and recovery investigation underway by both the CID and FCID.

He was absconding arrest and the Srilanka Court issued arrest warrant through Interpol.

 CID investigation has revealed additional information that former SL Ambassador for Russia Udayanga Weeratunga has received wire transfers in a value in excess of US$ 4.1 million from companies and bank accounts including Cyprus, Panama, Russia, Latvia, Marshall Islands, Belize and the United Arab Emirates. A CID affidavit said that investigators suspect that some of these entities “do not engage in licit business activities (generally referred to as shell companies)”, and that the reasons given for these bank transfers included payments to him for software development, building materials, rent and for tea, while others gave no reasons for the transfer.

The investigating officer further affirmed that she believes that the bank accounts of Weeratunga contained proceeds of unlawful activities conducted by the former ambassador. Investigations by the CID and FCID have not revealed any involvement by Weeratunga in the fields of software development or building materials, or any payments from Weeratunge to entities involved in software development or building materials.

 While Udayanga Weeratunga attempted to take a flight to USA from Dubai airport, the   Immigration officers discovered that his passport had been invalidated for travel by the Department of Immigration and Emigration pursuant to a court order. Hence, he was placed in immigration detention in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, February 4.

As police officers and senior prosecutors from the Attorney General’s Department race have prepared necessary legal documents  and  ready   to travel to Dubai to get the  former Ambassador Udayanga Weeratunga repatriated  to Sri Lanka