Former NFF MP Gamini Waleboda called on President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and the CID to take immediate action to prevent officials from the Excise Department, involved in the forged revenue stickers on liquor bottles scam, from fleeing the country.
Speaking to the media on Friday, Waleboda said that there was information that some top officials of the Excise Department, alleged to have assisted liquor companies in the counterfeit revenue sticker scam, were attempting to leave the country to avoid arrest.
“This scam has cost the nation’s coffers over 10 billion rupees annually. These officials are now trying to flee the country due to fear of being arrested following the change of government. We urge the President and the CID to stop them and bring them to justice,” the former MP said.
NFF executive committee member and former MP Wasantha Samarasinghe added that strict action would be taken against corrupt Excise Department officials. “We possess audio recordings of some of these officials. There are officials who facilitated businessmen in obtaining liquor shop licenses in exchang for commissions of Rs 20 million per license. We have identified the newly opened shops. Some businessmen had obtained licenses from the previous government but were not allowed to open their shops by the Excise Department after they failed to pay the Rs 20 million commission. We intend to launch a formal investigation into this. Additionally, we plan to recover the taxes evaded by the liquor manufacturers,” Samarasinghe said.
