On Monday, the Sri Lankan police arrested a top official of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) for his involvement in a fraud of over a $5.5 million for the sale of television rights for the ongoing England tour of the island, a spokesman said.
Ruwan Gunasekera said the chief financial officer at Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), Nandika Dissanayake, was arrested as the main suspect in the bank fraud after the board filed a complaint two weeks ago. He said Dissanayake had already siphoned $183,000 due to SLC from Sony TV for television rights for the recently concluded South African tour.
Dissanayake then attempted to steal another $5.5 million due to SLC from selling the television rights for the current England tour when he was caught. Talking about the same, Gunasekera said, “We will take the suspect before a magistrate tomorrow and carry out further investigations.”
ALSO READ: Arjuna Ranatunga seeks CBI help to fight against corruption in Sri Lanka
the present Sri Lankan Petroleum Minister Arjuna Ranatunga has claimed that India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) could provide them with the technical expertise to fight against the corruption in cricket.
While the national cricket team is struggling hugely in the international cricket, the several fixing and other big corrupt allegations are putting the Sri Lankan cricket in deeper trouble.
After returning from New Delhi, Ranatunga said, “India has specialized knowledge on the issue has taken action against many corrupt activities in match-fixing. I made the request, and Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi immediately put me in touch with the CBI [Central Bureau of Investigation]. We don’t have the expertise or the laws to deal with this problem in a proper manner. India promised to help us in drafting legislation too.”
SLC is currently auditing its accounts following the discovery of the fraud. The England tour will continue till November 27.