Sri Lanka's political party demands corruption probe on ex-president, family

A key coalition partner of Sri Lanka's newly elected president has urged the country's graft watchdog to probe former president Mahinda Rajapaksa and his family members.

The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) party made the complaint to the Bribery and Corruption Commission demanding 11 individuals and an institution be investigated for mass scale corruption.

Those on the list included Rajapaksa and his two brothers who were economic development minister and defense secretary.

The former president's eldest son Namal Rajapaksa who remains a member of the parliament was also on the list along with sports broadcaster Carlton Sports Network of which he is a director.

Other officials include former central bank governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal who has been accused by the JVP for the loss of 15. 5 million U.S. dollars in Greek bonds in the global financial crisis.

Sri Lanka's opposition had severely criticized the central bank for investing in what was termed as "junk bonds" of Greece in the aftermath of the euro crisis.

Sri Lanka reportedly invested over 30 million euro in Greek junk bonds on April 5, 2011 and subsequently lost an estimated 15. 5 million U.S. dollars, according to newly appointed State Minister of Finance Harsha de Silva.

Cabraal has also been implicated in a series of contracts to hedge a portion of its oil imports beginning in 2007.

Rajapaksa was defeated in last Thursday's poll and his former cabinet member Maithripala Sirisena took oaths as the new president of Sri Lanka on Jan 9. Endi