Pandora Papers: Nadesan seeks probe, says he and Nirupama ‘not guilty’

COLOMBO: President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has ordered the Bribery Commission to investigate the Sri Lankan links to Pandora Papers – one of the biggest leaks of financial documents that shed light on the secret wealth and dealings of world leaders, politicians and billionaires.

Minister Dullas Alahapperuma, who addressed the media briefing to announce Cabinet decisions, said the Director-General of the Bribery Commission has been instructed to submit a report on the matter within a month.

Some 35 current and former leaders and more than 300 public officials were featured in the files from offshore companies, dubbed the Pandora Papers, released recently.

The investigation led by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists involved 600 journalists from 150 media outlets in 117 countries.

Former Sri Lanka minister Nirupama Rajapaksa’s name was also mentioned in the Pandora Papers.

The documents revealed that Nirupama Rajapaksa and her husband Thirukumar Nadesan are the actual economic beneficiaries of an offshore company, managed by a Singapore trust firm, used to purchase luxury residences in London and Sydney, Australia.

The anonymous real estate safe is still active in 201 9, when the available documents stop, it states.

A former Member of Parliament, Nirupama served as deputy minister of water supply and drainage from 2010 to 2015.

Nadesan has written to the president stating he and his wife are guilty of no wrongdoings and to appoint a retired judge to investigate into the issue.