“There Are No Accounts For Donations Given To Ranil” — Malik Samarawickrama

• Ranil Silent On Hussein Allegations
• Sauce For The Goose Is Sauce For The Gander

By Faraz Shauketaly

The former chairman of Sri Lanka’s oldest political party, Malik Samarawickrama, has confirmed that he did not transfer monies received by him from Sabir Hussein, to the UNP. Instead he told The Sunday Leader Editor, Frederica Jansz, that he “withdrew the money and gave it to the Fund Raising Committee.” He was unable to say to whom the money was given. Malik Samarawickrama also confirmed that there was no account of the monies. He denied that this was tantamount to fraud saying that most donors called for anonymity especially as the UNP was in the opposition.

In 2004 Malik Samarawickrama confirmed to the Editor of The Sunday Leader now, Frederica Jansz, that Hussein donated in the “region of Rs. 10 million” yet by June 2010 Samarawickrama, who runs a successful garment export business and is a professional accountant, was denying the Hussein donations, stating that Hussein “never gave anything — not a red cent” only to retract his comments to say that “he may have given about Rs. 1 or 2 million.” Samarawickrama in 2004 said that Hussein wanted a diplomatic post in exchange for the donations he gave and that his request was rejected. Hussein disputes that in his interview with The Sunday Leader last week saying that it was Malik who offered him the position in addition to “deals” in which Hussein was assured he could more than recover his money. Samarawickrama flatly denies those claims.

Earlier the multi millionaire textile magnate, denied ever receiving the bulk of the monies that Swedish-based businessman, Sabir Hussein says he gave in donations. Absolutely astonishingly, however, Samarawickrama’s explanation in fact adds to growing speculation that the UNP leadership is unable — or unwilling — to produce a proper, fair and equitable explanation as to what exactly happened to millions of rupees that the UNP is thought to have received from supporters keen to see their party elected to form a government. Senior sources at the UNP said that “accounts were being prepared” and would be made available to their Working Committee “soon”. Whether this was in relation to the funds received in 2001 was not immediately clear.

Malik Samarawickrama, a close personal friend of Ranil Wickremesinghe, told The Sunday Leader that it was possible that Hussein, could possibly have made donations of not more than Rs. 2 million — as opposed to Rs. 48 million that Hussein says he gave the UNP Leader in the presence of Malik Samarawickrama as well as funds for the UNP directly through a bank account connected to the millionaire textile magnate.  Sabir Hussein met Ranil Wickremesinghe when he was Prime Minister.

Malik Samarawickrama also claimed that Sabir Hussein did not meet the Leader. However documents in our possession indicates that in fact Hussein did meet with then Prime Minister Wickremesinghe following up with a letter to the Prime Minister after having met with Gamini Lokuge who was Minister of Tourism. Hussein brings the PM up to speed with that meeting and informs him that the Minister wished to have a note from the PM in respect of the entertainment centre proposal (Part 1).

Dato Ramesh, a Malaysian based businessman who was part of a delegation invited to Sri Lanka by Sabir Hussein, has also confirmed to The Sunday Leader that – on another occasion – Hussein accompanied by the Malaysians and a serving member of the UNP who was a junior minister at the time, met with Prime Minister Wickremesinghe at his offices in Sri Lanka’s parliament. As part of their culture, the PM was presented with an expensive bottle of cognac  after which they discussed the possibility of an integrated resort complex for Sri Lanka.

Having then issued a letter of intent, the project fell apart when the PM is said to have balked at the idea of granting the operator exclusivity. By contrast the Singaporean government called for proposals and went ahead with an integrated resort complex at Sentosa, Singapore which is a S$  5.2 billion investment. The project is of such magnitude that it positively impacted on the GDP of Singapore by about 1%.

Malik Samarawickrama’s denial fuels the fires of speculation and growing inter-party dissatisfaction with Wickremesinghe’s autocratic rule of the party.

Further compounding his version of events, Samarawickrama confirmed that monies given to the party by donors was the normal practice and that many donors wished to remain anonymous especially since almost always the UNP has been in the opposition, right throughout Ranil Wickremesinghe’s tenure as party leader as well as when he was Prime Minister for a short while under President Kumaratunga. By that convoluted explanation of transparency, Malik Samarawickrama has virtually admitted that Hussein’s funds too, may well have followed its way to the hands of the Leader of the Party.

Sabir Hussein for his part told The Sunday Leader that “Malik’s denial is in fact proof that they have something to hide. It is disgraceful and dishonest that both Malik and his pal Ranil have not thought it fit to be completely transparent about something as sensitive as party funds. Ranil and Malik may well be very rich men, it is therefore even more significant that they should be almost ‘holier than thou’ in their explanations. They are after all mere custodians of the monies received and therefore must be able to explain precisely how they spent those monies. It was specifically for the party and its betterment. These happened a long time ago – now Malik’s memory is clouded. Are they preparing accounts now – after so many years and with memories as hazy as it appears? It’s very rich indeed.”

Malik Samarawickrama

What Malik ‘Remembers’…

The Sunday Leader discussed these matters with Malik Samarawickrama and reproduce below extracts of his responses:

Q: Did you transfer or deposit the Rs. 2 million you say you got from Sabir Hussein to a UNP bank account?
A: No I did not. I withdrew the cash and handed it over to the fund raising committee that is always appointed and functions during an election.

Q: Who in this committee did you hand the cash over to?
A: I can’t remember. This was in 2001 — I can’t remember.

Q: So how was this money dispensed with? Is there an account of the monies?
A: No there is not.

Q: Does not that then amount to fraud?
A: Not really. The donors do not want to be identified or exposed for obvious reasons, especially when we are in the opposition. The funds collected are handed over to the campaign treasurer and he disburses the funds as per the budget approved by the campaign committee. This treasurer has a record of all expenses which is also known to the fund raising committee.

Q: Can you confirm that Mr. Hussein had made some transfers to your Penguin Sportswear FCBU account, and can you recollect how much it was even though originally you said that Hussein had not given a “red cent”?
A: I am not sure if Mr. Hussein had remitted any funds through my Penguin a/c but it may be possible. I recollect that he contributed between Rs. 1 to 2 million maximum. (I cannot remember the exact amount)

Q: You say that Mr. Hussein has a criminal record in Sri Lanka?
A: Subsequently, we learnt that he had a problem with the Swedish authorities. I read it first in a newspaper. I am not certain if it’s criminal or not. Kabir Hashim  told me that he was unable to go to Sweden as a result of this.

Q: Is it normal for your company account to receive monies intended for the UNP?
A: No I do not and as a habit I do not encourage that. In fact I actively discourage that. In this case I can’t recollect what and why but it may well have happened.

Q: You say he wanted some sort of position. What was that?
A: A diplomatic position of some sort and we flatly rejected that.

Q: So he did meet with you?
A: Yes, he met with us and promised a large donation but that was it – apart from this other donation of perhaps Rs 1 or Rs 2 million which I have to check on whether it was in fact made. He did mention that he will contribute substantially but did not do so. As far as I know. Later, I was made aware that he was working against our party and helping the other side.

Q: Mr. Hussein says he has over a period of time made a donation of about US$ 460,000 to the UNP.

A: Certainly not. No way. I would certainly remember a transfer of that amount.

Q: Mr. Hussein says that he met the then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in parliament with a Malaysian investor for an entertainment project?
A: I am unaware of that. I don’t think he met the Leader. I am not sure if he met the Leader. The Leader may not be aware of this request.