Gotabhaya Rajapaksa registered Mihin Lanka as a private company

COLOMBO (News 1st) - It has come to light the application for the incorporation of Mihin Lanka Private Limited was presented by its founding director Former Secretary of Defense Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. This was revealed at the Presidential Commission investigating SriLankan Airlines, SriLankan Catering Ltd. and Mihin Lanka (Pvt) Ltd. Indika Gunawardena, a representative of the Department of Registrar of Companies provided evidence before the Commission at the BMICH today (June 7). He said the application for incorporation of Mihin Lanka Private Limited was submitted on 25th of October 2006. However, the Registrar of Companies had made a minute on the document citing defects. On the document, S. S.Consultants & Corporate Secretaries (Pvt) Ltd. is recorded as the Company Secretary of Mihin Lanka. The witness after perusing the documents identified Gotabhaya Rajapaksa as the individual who has presented the application as director and he is also listed as the declarant. Despite the defects, according to the evidence, the certificate of incorporation was issued on 27th of October 2006. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Dr. P. B. Jayasundara, Former Air Force Commander Roshan Gunathilaka and Former MP Sajin De Vaas Gunawardena have been listed as the first four directors of Mihin Lanka. It was revealed today (June 7), according to the Articles of Association the minimum number of directors need to be five, however, that number was only four. According to the witness, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa's name is not mentioned in the company records after 2008. It was disclosed, from 2006 to June 27th 2014 , the Lanka Puthra Bank and the Treasury had invested Rs. 14.4 billion in Mihin Lanka Private Limited. Earlier at the commission, it was revealed, from 2006 to 2018 Mihin Lanka Private Limited had incurred a loss of Rs. 17 billion with liabilities amounting to over Rs. 10 billion. During the first six months of 2016, Mihin Lanka Private Limited incurred a loss of Rs. 181 million.