Former Deputy Minister Sarana Gunawardena today informed Colombo Chief Magistrate that he was pleading guilty in two corruption cases filed by Bribery Commission for his failure to declare assets and liabilities for two years.
The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption had filed two corruption cases in Colombo Chief Magistrate's Court against former Deputy Minister Sarana Gunawardena over non-declaration of assets and liabilities while he was serving as the Chairman of National Lotteries Board between 2006 and 2007.
When the cases came up before Colombo Chief Magistrate Lal Banadara, former Minister pleaded guilty in two cases and police were ordered to obtain his fingerprints in order to ascertain his previous crime records.
The Chief Magistrate fixed the cases for July 20 in order to mete out punishment.
The Bribery Commission alleged that Sarana Gunawardena had failed to declare his assets and liabilities for a period of two years since 2006 to 2007 while he was serving as the Chairman of National Lotteries Board.
The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption had filed charges against the former Deputy Minister in the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court under Section 9 of the Declaration of Assets and Liabilities Law No. 1 of 1975.
President's Counsel Anil Silva appeared for the accused.
On April 6, 2017, former Defense Ministry Monitoring MP Duminda Silva had pleaded guilty in three corruption cases filed against him by Bribery Commission and he was ordered to pay a fine of Rs.3000 by Colombo Chief Magistrate's Court.