A press release issued by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs admitted today that the Sri Lanka Customs had apprehended an outbound foreign national at the BIA while he was attempting to take out USD 53,455 out of Sri Lanka in contravention of the Customs Ordinance some time back.
It further said that the "Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Mahinda Rajapaksa by virtue of the powers vested in him under section 164 of the S.L Customs Ordinance directed the Director General of Sri Lanka Customs to release this money to its legitimate owner."
Spokesman of the Customs Department, Sunil Jayaratna confirmed the order given by Rajapaksa. He said that a sum of USD 53,455 confiscated by the Customs Department was released on the order of the Minister of Finance Mahinda Rajapaksa, as he has the authority to do so according to provisions in the Customs Ordinance.
The Finance Ministry in its press release also noted that on a previous occasion, when a foreign national working in Sri Lanka was apprehended while attempting to smuggle out foreign currency, the then Minister of Finance had directed the release of the money after considering a similar appeal, in June 2018. However, in the letter sent to the Director General of Customs by the then Minister of Finance, it clearly stated that the order to release the funds are subject to all applicable duties and levies.
"The order is issued with the understanding that all import duties and other levies are duly recovered", the former Finance Minister's letter said.
However, in the letter sent by Mahinda Rajapaksa to the Director General of Customs, there is no mention of recovering the applicable duties and levies from the foreign national concerned.
As the press release sent by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs stated that both these incidents are quite similar in nature, it begs the question as to why the current Minister of Finance Mahinda Rajapaksa, ordered to release the foreign currency without it being subjected to government penalties and other duties, as enforced by his predecessor.
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