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Former Sri Lankan president denies allegations of hidden money overseas

Xinhua, May 8, 2015 Adjust font size:

Former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse on Friday denied allegations by the Sri Lankan government that he had siphoned off state funds during his decade- long tenure in office and held assets worth 18 billion U.S. dollars overseas.

Rajapakse's response came a day after Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera told reporters that according to intelligence reports, the former leader had stashed away billions of dollars in foreign countries and was involved in mass corruption.

The minister also revealed that Sri Lanka had the backing of four nations to trace these illegal funds and assets owned by Rajapakse.

Rajapakse, however, denied all allegations, saying that neither he nor his family held any secret offshore accounts or had any assets overseas.

"In making the statement about my family's supposed 18-billion- U.S. dollar fortune, Minister Samaraweera took the precaution of adding that he does not know whether this information is correct or not. By covering himself in that manner, fiction can be passed off as fact," he said in a statement.

The former president and his brothers were under a corruption probe in the country after his surprise lose at the Jan. 8 Presidential election to his one time health minister Maithripala Sirisena.

During a discussion with the new Sri Lankan president, Rajapakse urged Sirisena to drop the investigations against his family and supporters. Endi