A public servant has been acquitted after 18 years of a charge of misusing government funds during a trip to Thailand.

The Colombo High Court has decided to acquit and release the former Secretary-General of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka from charges of misusing over twenty-four lakhs of rupees given for a workshop organized by the Asian Development Bank in Thailand. Colombo High Court Judge Ms. Lanka Jayaratne issued this order, and the person thus acquitted was named Samantha Bandara Abeywickrama.

This incident occurred approximately eighteen years ago, and the Attorney General had filed a case alleging that this financial fraud occurred between June 12 and October 04, 2007. Although it was confirmed that he had been given Rs. 2,478,551 to attend the relevant foreign conference, the prosecution failed to prove the allegation that he used those funds for his personal use.

It was revealed in court that six witnesses had testified in this case, which was heard for a long period. A complaint regarding this incident, which occurred in 2007, was lodged with the Fraud Investigation Bureau in 2009 by Mr. Dayaratne Parakrama Bollawe, Head of Human Resources, acting on the instructions of the then Chairman of the Board, Mr. Nandakumara. However, no party who testified during the trial was able to confirm that the defendant criminally misused the funds or used them for personal needs.

The judge emphasized in her verdict that no documents were presented to prove that the expenses incurred during the said trip were unrelated to the Thailand conference. Furthermore, the judge expressed strong doubts regarding the failure to summon former Chairman Nandakumara, who allegedly first uncovered the facts about the misuse of funds, to testify. Accordingly, concluding that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges against the defendant beyond a reasonable doubt, he was thus acquitted, and Attorney Sugath Hettiarachchi and Attorney Inoka Senewiratne appeared on behalf of the defendant.