The Hon. Ananda Wijepala – Minister of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chairperson, thank you for the opportunity to speak in today’s debate on the Proceeds of Crime Bill. I especially thank the Hon. Minister of Justice for swiftly presenting this Bill to Cabinet and to Parliament for implementation.

¶ 02 [Expunged on the order of the Chair.]

¶ 03 Please stop using unparliamentary words. This is a supreme institution. Do not use abusive language.

¶ 04 Hon. Deputy Chairperson: You have already been given time. Please remain silent. Hon. Minister Ananda Wijepala to proceed. Hon. Ramanathan Archchuna, please take your seat. Hon. Members, please be silent. Respect the Chair. All Members, please be silent.

¶ 05 Hon. Member: Please allow me to speak.

¶ 06 Hon. Deputy Chairperson: You were given the required time. Now, please take your seat. Hon. Ananda Wijepala, please continue.

¶ 07 Hon. Deputy Chairperson, regarding the culture of politics in this Parliament, there is nothing new to say. Our country has become one where bribery, corruption, fraud, and financial misappropriation have flourished. Presenting this commendable Bill to Cabinet and now to Parliament helps create the environment to pass it.

¶ 08 This Bill provides for investigation, restraint, vesting in the State, and disposal of property derived from crime. It establishes the legal framework to secure property until trial is concluded and until disposal. Establishing a Proceeds of Crime Management Authority is a significant feature to preserve and manage such property. It also provides for inter-agency and international cooperation to identify and restrain property overseas.

¶ 09 Often, those engaged in these misappropriations move funds abroad, invest them in foreign ventures or hostile activities, or place them in institutions. Even if such proceeds are situated overseas, this Bill provides mechanisms to recover them. That is a pressing necessity. We pledged on election platforms that we would investigate large-scale financial crimes and return to our people the assets illicitly removed from this land. As the National People’s Power Government, we are committed to deliver on that pledge, and this Bill provides the mechanisms to do so.

¶ 10 It also contains provisions to protect victims and the public from financial or other losses and to provide relief. No person should have proprietary rights in assets obtained illegally; such assets must be taken over lawfully by the State and handed to lawful custodians.

¶ 11 Another strength here is to overcome gaps that exist across many current laws—the Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure, Offences against Public Property Act, Suppression of Terrorist Financing Act, Anti-Money Laundering Act, Financial Transactions Reporting Act, and the Bribery Act. Though those laws are used, investigations often face obstacles. This Bill helps to complete those gaps, enabling more efficient investigations, prosecutions, and recovery of assets removed from our country.

¶ 12 It allows effective identification, tracing, investigation, restraint, preservation, management, adjudication, and vesting of proceeds of crime, and returning them to lawful owners. We have seen seized assets at times are not preserved or managed properly. Through the Management Authority, we aim for better institutional management and the return to rightful owners or custodians.

¶ 13 A notable feature is that, even if the accused is acquitted in the predicate offence (for example, narcotics trafficking), the proceeds of that crime may still be vested in the State under this Act. We must protect the next generation from narcotics traffickers by targeting their illicit wealth.

¶ 14 Investigative responsibility will lie with the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption and the Sri Lanka Police, with a dedicated unit to be established under a Senior DIG for proceeds of crime. The Act also states offences committed within or outside Sri Lanka producing proceeds inside or outside Sri Lanka can be addressed.

¶ 15 Importantly, a Compensation Fund is to be established, addressing a recurring lacuna where victims lacked a means of redress despite prosecutions.

¶ 16 In sum, the objectives, the investigative arrangements, the establishment of an Authority, and modalities for implementation are all provided. We believe this law will be a strong starting point for future investigations and actions against bribery, corruption, and fraud.

¶ 17 Thank you.