The Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka has now intervened to ascertain the manner in which the directors and shareholders of Golden Key Credit Card Company Limited had dealt with the assets of the collapsed Ceylinco subsidiary.

This follows the recent Supreme Court directive for, inter alia, a declaration of assets by Golden Key directors, office bearers, past and present, and others responsible in respect of this process, to produce by way of affidavits a declaration of their assets under the supervision of the Central Bank.

If a full disclosure was not made, under the purview of the Monetary Board of the Central Bank, it would be treated as contempt of court and dealt with accordingly, the Supreme Court has warned.

"The Central Bank would take further specific action to give effect to the orders of the Supreme Court", a public notice said last week.

The Supreme Court has ordered the Monetary Board to take necessary action under Sections 11 (1), 18 and 25 of the Finance Companies Act No. 78 of 1988 to give effect to the orders, the press notice noted, referring to the several Fundamental Rights applications filed by Golden Key depositors.

In terms of the directive, the Supreme Court has also restrained Golden Key and Deshamanya Dr. Lalith Kotelawala, Khavan Perera, Mrs. Sicille Kotelawala, Daniel Jegasothy, Mrs. Padmini Karunanayake, Suramya Karunaratne, Bandula Ranaweera, Niranjan Fernando, Saradha Sumanasekera and Ceylinco Consolidated (Private) Limited and their servants and agents from selling, advertising for sale or otherwise disposing of, or taking any further steps or actions to alienate the properties belonging to them, the public notice said.

The directors and other parties have also been restrained from operating or closing any foreign bank accounts maintained by them or transferring or disposing of any money in such bank accounts or from entering into any mergers with other third parties, according to the notice dated April 8, 2009.

"As an immediate first step, the Monetary Board has also notified the general public and the persons named above of these orders and instructed them to adhere to them".

The Supreme Court Bench comprising Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva, Justices Shiranee Tilakawardane and K. Sripavan also rejected the list of assets submitted by Lalith Kotelawala on March 19, 2009 with an assurance that depositors will be re-paid their monies soon.

The Bench, which examined the document, dismissed it saying the contents cannot be accepted as they are not factual. The deposit base of Golden Key is 26 billion rupees but the assets, as given in the document, was Rs. 372 million.

As this clearly shows that Golden Key depositors’ funds had been siphoned off to other companies, the Chief Justice said there is provision in the law for the Monetary Board to conduct a full probe and get to the bottom of this scam.

Court also expressed dismay at the way the Monetary Board was acting by looking the other way while Golden Key depositors were being swindled.

Meanwhile, there is still no official feedback from the International Police (INTERPOL), which has launched a probe to trace Mrs. Sicille Kotelawala, against whom a judicial arrest warrant has been issued in Sri Lanka.

"We expect INTERPOL to forward the dossier on Mrs. Kotelawala this week", Deputy Solicitor General (DSG) Sarath Jayamanne told The Sunday Island.

"There are certain findings", he said, without elaborating. "We are awaiting the official response".

DSG Jayamanna has dismissed the medical certificate as an "attempt to mislead court", when the criminal case came up before Chief Magistrate Harsha Setunge, recently.

Kotelawala, who was refused bail by the Colombo High Court, is still on remand. As his health deteriorated, the Ceylinco Chairman was admitted to the Merchant’s Ward of the Colombo National Hospital, where he remains.

Deputy Chairman/CEO Khavan Perera and several other directors have also been remanded in connection with this fraud described as "the biggest white collar crime in Sri Lanka".