Thread by @nimilamalee

This long thread is about Imaad Zuberi who in June this year went to jail in the US for defrauding #SriLanka out of nearly US$6mn. The money was disbursed through @CBSL in 2014. Those that paid were never held accountable. And it’s not just US$6mn we’re talking about.

https://twitter.com/joshgerstein/status/1401947738015739907

@TimesOnlineLK first reported in a July 2014 political column that Zuberi was introduced to UPFA leaders by Saleem H Mandviwalla, a one-time Chairman of Pakistan's Board of Investment, friend of President Rajapaksa and Namal Rajapaksa MP.
sundaytimes.lk/140720/columns…

On July 20, @TimesOnlineLK political column revealed that Vass Gunawardena was doing back-channel diplomacy to cushion possible adverse fallout from an international investigation into alleged war crimes. Again, Zuberi was key.
sundaytimes.lk/140810/columns…

//All these six objectives, @CBSL believes, could be achieved by a PR agency headed by a one-time member of the US House of Representatives for Rs 99mn per year, a cost higher than running the Sri Lanka Embassy in Washington DC.//
sundaytimes.lk/140817/columns…

In 2015, thanks to collab with Bill Allison (of Foreign Policy at the time), @TimesOnlineLK delved even deeper. And we found documentary proof of money transfers, not only to a company that Mr. Zuberi claimed to own, but to his personal bank account.
sundaytimes.lk/150830/news/th…

We also found that a total of US$ 6.5 million was released by @CBSL between May 9 and September 10, 2014. None of it went through the prescribed channels —that is, via the Foreign Ministry and Sri Lanka’s diplomatic mission in Washington, DC.

As @TimesOnlineLK continued to investigate using both confidential sources and public information we saw #SriLanka paid out massive amounts to US lobbyists, legal and public relations companies between 2008 and 2014 without any public oversight.
sundaytimes.lk/150913/news/th…

@TimesOnlineLK filed yet another report about all kinds of other companies engaged to draft media statements, propaganda material, speeches and talking points for Sri Lanka’s Ambassador in Washington, DC, Jaliya Wickramasuriya.
sundaytimes.lk/150920/news/mi…

For three consecutive years, the Auditor General queried @cbsl about the millions paid to foreign lobbyists, consultants and public relations agencies nearly Rs 1.4bn in 2014 alone. The regulator neither defended nor justified the figures. sundaytimes.lk/150927/news/lo…

In October 2019, US prosecutors filed a criminal case against Mr Zuberi. Court papers showed that, of the US$ 6.5mn paid by the Sri Lanka Government, 87 percent was spent on himself and his wife.
sundaytimes.lk/191027/news/am…

Again, in November 2020: sundaytimes.lk/201115/news/us…

In February 2021: timesonline.lk/news-online/US…

And April 2021, thanks to @ByronTau who remains of great assistance to follow journalists like me.
sundaytimes.lk/210411/news/in…

When you have the right people in the right places, it's very easy to get things done. The UNP can attest to that, given what happened at @CBSL after 2015.