Expos Bandula Gunawardena

Corruption Finally Proved..!

Sunday, 07 June 2015

The Laska Investigative

team has always strived to provide truthful information, finding

evidence is no easy task, after 4 months of investigation we give below the ultimate
scam perpetrated by Bandula Gunawardena (former Cabinet Minister), and as always
we dont simply inform you, we also have lodged an official complaint with The
Financial Crimes Investigations Division (FCID) as in the past we hope justice will
prevail.
Have you ever wondered how this minister lives and maintains his life style while
educating his kids abroad for so long without a legit Business or a job ? well maybe
whats below will shed some light
The Deal Importing rice (irri-6) for 2 billion rupees when he was minister of Trade
** this story is not new but the evidence is**
The Scam 1. Total Quantity L/Cs opened for 35,000 M/T ! (proof 1) (proof 2) (proof 3)
2. Value of L/cs opened 2,099,875,000 Rs (proof 1) (proof 2) (proof 3)
3. therefore Average value per ton 60,000 rs (60 rs per kilo !!)
5. The same rice variety named IRRI 6 (white raw rice) was imported by companies
like wilson trading, unilanka etc at 40,000 rs (40 rs per kilo) !! ..during the same period
(proof 4)
6. So why on earth would Bandula Gunawardena import rice through his lackey
Pradeep Gunawardena of STC at 20,000 rs more than the market price per ton ??
7. alleged Mark-up on this scam = 700,000,000 rs !!!
The Plot Thickens;
1. the rice was imported through.guess ? :)
a) A plywood manufacturer (fortunately his rice never came from Myanmar )(proof 2)

b) A casino king who brokered the deal with a pakistani textile exporter ! (proof 3)
2. its like you go to buy a toyota car from Stardust casino or Plywood house when
there are enough of car dealers around !! :)
3. so no surprises then.. when we tell you the rice could not be sold in sri lanka.! as
the same rice was available for 50 rs per kilo :)
4. Most of The unsold rice was re-exported at 336 $ to UAE which is 190 $s less than
the purchase price (proof 5)
5. Some of the rice was given to pigs as per board paper (proof 6)
6. The purchase of this rice did not serve the purpose it was brought for and instead
resulted in a colossal loss of public funds
7. The STC chairman (like his contemporaries Dullas Alahapperuma, Basil and
Gotabaya Rajapakse ) landed here from Los Angeles. When he came to Sri Lankan he
did not have a house of his own, travelled by bus and was living in a friends apartment
on rent first in d/2/1/2, Torrington housing scheme, mallasekara maw., col 7
NOW he has purchased a land and house in 76/17 sirikanda, jothikarama rd,
kallagoda, Pannipitiya and started a Orchid business worth 40 million, owns a couple
of hotels worth 100 million and yesdrives around in a Brand new BMW worth 20
million !! (proof 7)
8. Bandula Gunawardena shamelessly still continues to criticize the government as if
he is Gods gift to this earth (proof 8)
please note.. we dont expose these crooks beucase of maice or personal gain, we
lost kith and kin during the war, we did not leave our motherland like many who
comment from overseas we will continue to strive to make beautiful Sri Lanka a land
free of leaches that live off the the innocent and the voiceless
Proof / EVIDENCE

Object 1

BACKGROUND
In November 2009 the cabinet agreed to temporarily lower the duty on the import of
rice from 20 to one rupee per kilo. The steep duty exists to protect local farmers from
cheap foreign rice imports.
However in this instance the reduction in the duty was justified as Sri Lanka
traditionally faces a shortage of rice supplies during November and December. The
two month duty waiver was granted therefore to ease the burden on the consumer by
allowing foreign rice to be imported during months where rice is traditionally scarce.
Making use of this duty waiver many companies including the state owned Marketing
Federation imported several thousand tonnes of IRRI 6 grade 25% broken rice
essentially the `sudu haal` preferred by Sri Lankan consumers. The market price for
IRRI 6 grade rice at the time was $360 and the Marketing Federation too purchased
several tonnes of rice at $360 a tonne.
The Minster for Consumer Affairs however was not interested in providing relief to
consumers and importing rice at market price, rather he and his partner were
interested in making via the STC, which falls under the purview of the Trade Ministry,
as large a profit from this duty waiver as possible.
By December the Minister and STC Chairman had devised a fool proof means of
enriching themselves by importing overvalued rice through the STC.
As a first step they were able to persuade the cabinet to extend the duty waiver on rice
imports initially granted only for November and December 2009 to March 21, 2010.
Such a lengthy duty waiver for rice imports is extraordinary as Sri Lanka`s own harvest
season begins in mid January which mean that rice imports are not necessary after
the middle of the month.
This year continued rice imports are particularly unnecessary as peace and the
inclusion of northern particularly the Mannar rice bowl in the annual harvest
guarantees a bumper local crop.
Therefore the extended duty waiver certainly wasn`t extended on account of an
impending shortage of rice or to provide rice to consumers at reasonable prices. As

will soon become clear the duty waiver was extended for one reason alone to enrich
Bandula Gunawardena.
Step two
Taking advantage of this extended duty waiver our partners in crime placed orders for
the import of 40,000 tonnes of rice through the STC. Extraordinarily all of this rice was
to be delivered between January and March the height of Sri Lanka`s own harvest
season when rice imports are completely unnecessary. Even more extraordinary
however was the price being paid for this rice.
While the market price for RRI 6 rice was $360 per tonne the State Trading
Corporation placed orders for the import of the same grade of rice at $420, $435 and
$520 a tonne.
10,000 tonnes of Myanmar rice was ordered at a cost of $420 a tonne while 20,000
tonnes of rice was ordered from Pakistan at $520 a tonne.
What was going on?
The answer is very simple. Pradeep Gunawardena and Bandula Gunawardena as the
men driving the deals were collecting huge commissions for their overvalued orders.
The State Trading Corporation was ordering rice at $420 and $520 per tonne while
their suppliers however were purchasing this rice at only 360 dollars leaving sellers
with 60 140 dollars of clear profit per tonne and of course this excess money was
distributed between the Minister his accomplice and their trading partners.
Simple really
However, the overall scale of the fraud is quite staggering. On December 28 the STC
opened an LC with a local company, Plywood House of Kegalle for the import of
10,000 tonnes of rice from Myanmar at $420 a tonne. The rice was to be delivered in
mid January.
Keep in mind the market price for the same rice was $360 per tonne meaning that the
rice had been ordered with a clear $60 premium for every tonne.
$60 into 10,000 tonnes is 600,000 dollars or Rs. 70 million. Therefore the STC a State
Corporation tasked with stabilizing the prices of essential goods, paid Rs. 70 million
over the odds for the unnecessary import of rice during the harvest season.
The total value of the LC was a staggering Rs. 600 million.
But even this wasn`t enough
The two Gunawardena`s had decided that this was the big one. That this was the
scam that would keep them in Monteros and luxury houses well into their retirement
and having signed the Myanmar deal they decided to take their scheme to another
level.
In January they purchased 20,000 tonnes of rice from a Pakistani company Younus
Brothers of Karachi. This time however a $60 margin just wasn`t enough and STC
ordered the rice at a staggering $520 per tonne.
An extraordinary 160 unnecessary dollars for every tonne. 20,000 tonnes in total and
$320,000 dollars or Rs. 400 million of state funds wasted and commissions gained for
the two Gunawardenas.
This second purchase represents a truly criminal escalation of the original scam.
Having secured at $420 per tonne from Myanmar (WHICH NEVER ARRIVED IN SRI
LANKA )they went ahead with purchase of rice at $520 from Pakistan. How could they

possibly justify the import of rice at an even higher price?

This is no ordinary fraud as it involves a commodity that is a necessity for virtually the
entire population of the country.
The commissions made at Rs.400 million and Rs.70 million are simply staggering but
even more galling is the fact that the STC by importing thousands of tonnes of
expensive rice will distort the price of rice in the local market pushing it upwards and
harming millions of consumers.
Therefore Bandula and Pradeep Gunawardena were not only misappropriating state
funds they were also knowingly hurting Sri Lankan consumers doubly ironic as
Bandula Gunawardena is of course the Minister of Consumer Affairs.
As a footnote they also signed a deal for the import of an additional 5000 tonnes of
IRRI grade 6 rice from another Pakistani company, Al Bagari Trading for $435 a kilo or
$75 per tonne over the market price. Earning an additional $375000 or Rs.40 million in
commissions, and bringing the total profit from the scam to over Rs. 500 million.
Five hundred million rupees of state funds unnecessarily spent and inevitably
pocketed by the Minister and his accomplices.
Courtesy - http://laska.asia/featured/expose-bandula-gunawardena-corruption-finallyproved/
Posted by Thavam