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Message: <blockquote data-quote="AtulaSiriwardane" data-source="post: 6411470" data-attributes="member: 120286">Simple really However, the overall scale of the fraud is quite staggering.  On December 28 the STC opened an LC with a local company, Plywood House of Kegalle for the import of 10,000 tonnes of rice from Myanmar at $420 a tonne.  The rice was to be delivered in mid January. Keep in mind the market price for the same rice was $360 per tonne meaning that the rice had been ordered with a clear $60 premium for every tonne.$60 into 10,000 tonnes is  600,000 dollars or Rs. 70 million.  Therefore the STC – a State Corporation tasked with stabilizing the prices of essential goods, paid Rs. 70 million over the odds for the unnecessary  import of rice during  the harvest season.The total value of the LC was a staggering Rs. 600 million. But even this wasn’t enough  The two Gunawardena’s had decided that this was the big one.  That this was the scam that would keep them in Monteros and luxury houses well into their retirement — and having signed  the Myanmar deal they decided to take their scheme to another level.In January they purchased  20,000 tonnes of rice from a Pakistani company — Younus Brothers of Karachi.  This time however a $60 margin just wasn’t enough and STC ordered the rice at a staggering $520 per tonne. An extraordinary 160 unnecessary dollars for every tonne.   20,000 tonnes in total and $320,000 dollars or Rs. 400 million of state funds wasted and commissions gained for the two Gunawardenas. This second purchase represents a truly criminal escalation of the original scam. Having secured at $420 per tonne from Myanmar they went ahead with purchase of rice at $520 from Pakistan. How could they possibly justify the import of rice at an even higher price? As a vague cover up exercise the   LC’s for the purchase of the Pakistani rice claim that it was the more valuable  IRRI grade 9 10% broken rice that was being imported. However the LC makes clear that no weight or quality certificate was asked for,  and  Sri Lankans do not consume large quantities of IRRI grade 9. Tellingly all these purchases were made without tenders being called. This is no  ordinary fraud as it involves  a commodity that is a necessity for virtually the entire population of the  country. The commissions made at Rs.400 million and Rs.70 million are simply staggering but even more galling is the fact that the STC by importing  thousands of tonnes of expensive rice  will distort the price of rice in the local market pushing it upwards and harming millions of consumers. Therefore Bandula and Pradeep Gunawardena were  not only misappropriating  state funds they were also knowingly  hurting Sri Lankan consumers; doubly ironic as Bandula Gunawardena is of course the Minister of Consumer Affairs. As a footnote they also signed a deal for the import of an additional 5000 tonnes of IRRI grade 6 rice from another Pakistani company, Al Bagari Trading  for $435 a kilo or $75 per tonne over the market price.  Earning an additional $375000 or Rs.40 million in commissions, and bringing  the total profit from the scam to over Rs. 500 million.Five hundred million rupees of state funds unnecessarily spent and inevitably pocketed by the Minister and his accomplices.</blockquote>

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