Colombo, Sep 11 (PTI) Sri Lanka’s former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Friday gave a statement in connection with the ongoing investigation into the controversial MiG aircraft procurement deal.
The former president arrived at the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) to record the statement.
Rajapaksa, 77, was summoned to record the statement regarding an investigation into alleged financial irregularities surrounding the procurement of MiG fighter aircraft for the Sri Lanka Air Force in 2006, when he was the top bureaucrat in the Ministry of Defence.
A five-hour statement was recorded from him on Friday, a day after former Air Force Commander, Marshal of the Air Force Roshan Goonetileke, also recorded a statement with the FCID for over five hours regarding this matter.
In 2006, Sri Lanka had ordered four MiG-27 aircraft from Ukraine. It was alleged that USD 7 million had been misappropriated in the transaction with the involvement of questionable third parties.
In 2018, Udayanga Weeratunga, Gotabaya’s cousin, who was the Sri Lankan Ambassador in Ukraine at the time of the deal, was arrested in the same case.
Gotabaya was President from the end of 2019 to 2022. He was forced to flee by the people’s uprising against him for leading the country to economic bankruptcy.
A week ago, his nephew Namal Rajapaksa was arrested and remanded till September 18 for his alleged involvement in obtaining kickbacks on the purchase of Airbuses to the national carrier SriLankan Airlines. PTI CORR AMS
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