A ban on Basil's Matara coconut land

Yesterday (06) afternoon, a special banner was displayed on a one-and-a-half-acre coconut land in the Browns Hill area of Matara, facing the Matara-Kataragama main road. "This is a deactivated property.

Unauthorized entry is prohibited, and the rights of bona fide claimants can be sought through the High Court," it stated under the name of the Director of the Police Financial Crimes Investigation Division. This property, valued at a massive 6.6 billion rupees, is suspected to be land belonging to former Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa.

Considering the facts presented to the court by the Police Financial Crimes Investigation Division, Matara Chief Magistrate Chathura Dissanayake issued a strict prohibitory order deactivating this property for a period of 14 days. Accordingly, officers from the Financial Crimes Investigation Division arrived at the said land premises around 4:00 PM yesterday and enforced the order, and the relevant banner was installed at the entrance to the land.

This controversial land transaction is said to have occurred during the time Mr. Basil Rajapaksa served as the Minister of Economic Development. According to information revealed during the trial, 6.6 billion rupees were paid to purchase this land from Mr. Herbert Keller, a German national.

Information regarding how this massive sum of money was exchanged has also been revealed during investigations. Funds received from 'Eagle Group Associated' in Singapore and 'World Diamond' in Hong Kong were used for this transaction. It was stated in court that these funds were credited to a joint account maintained at a private bank in Narahenpita, belonging to Basil Rajapaksa's brother-in-law, veterinary surgeon Tissa Galappaththi, and his sister-in-law, Ayomi Punyakanthi Galappaththi.

The Financial Crimes Investigation Division has filed this case under the Money Laundering Act, stating that this land was acquired using money suspected to have been illicitly earned.

It appears through the judicial process that the legal net related to this transaction is tightening further. During the last court session, Matara Chief Magistrate Chathura Dissanayake confiscated Mr. Basil Rajapaksa's bail money, and the warrant previously issued for his arrest was further extended until the 27th. Accordingly, the case concerning this property, which was subject to a 14-day prohibition, and the related land transaction, is scheduled to be heard again on the 27th.