Swarnamahal Financial Services and ETI Holdings are currently undergoing a financial crisis. The Central Bank has taken regulatory action on the two companies and is currently “running the show” -according to CBSL Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy.

Read More: Central Bank takes over ‘ETI Finance’ and ‘Swarnamahal Financial Services’

Given this situation, a Malaysian businessman is mediating a deal with a Singaporean company to come and invest in these two companies.

Straits Grid Pte. Ltd. is the company in question and the person who is brokering this deal is Jaya Sudhir Jayaram.

Who is this Jaya Sudir Jayaram?

Jayaram comes to Sri Lanka in-order to carry out a $250 Million (US) project.

The project is the ‘Horton Square Project’ -to construct a 75 storey residential building.

A company has been set up on the April 3, 2017 for this project. However, the ground breaking for ‘The Horton Square’ happens a mere 14 days later on April 17, 2017.

The share holders of this company;

• Muthusamy Manivannan
• Jaya Sudhir Jayaram
• Paradise Isle holdings limited

Muthusamy Manivannan & Jaya Sudhir Jayaram

Inspector General of Police has been asked to launch an investigation into the dealings between shareholders of the said company.

This request comes from the Minister of Megapolis and Western Development.

The shareholders whose dealings are being investigated are none-other-than Muthusamy Manivannan & Jaya Sudhir Jayaram

Also, Jaya Sudhir Jayaram got arrested at the Bandaranaike International Airport on November 10, 2017 while attempting to smuggle $50,000 (US) out of Sri Lanka along with his son who was carrying the same amount of money.

Read More: An attempt to smuggle over 31 Million rupees out of SL – What happened?

Paradise Isle holdings Limited

This company is registered in the UAE.

It has been named in the Mossack Fonseca Panama Papers revelation of offshore accounts.

A Problem for the Public

This becomes the problem of the public because we have seen various projects commencing in the country. But we have also seen a situation where people who are investing in these mega projects trying to smuggle out money.

Are these ‘mega projects’ which are ‘announced and not completed’ -a method to launder money through Sri Lanka?

Is this the type of investors we want in Sri Lanka?