The President’s and Prime Minister’s cousin Nirupama Rajapaksa and her husband Thirukumar Nadesan have amassed a fortune through a fake company to live a life of extreme luxury, according to the world’s largest media search.
Sri Lanka’s name has become world famous due to the findings of more than 600 journalists from 117 countries who have scrutinized a large number of financial transactions of heads of state from 90 countries, the world’s powers and more than 300 rich people.
The database of nearly one million pandora papers, known as the Pandora Papers, was obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, a Washington – based ICIJ.
According to documents, Nirupama Rajapaksa, the former deputy minister in the Mahinda Rajapaksa government, and Nadesan, a millionaire businessman, have bought luxury apartments in London and Sydney under the name of a paper-only company.
“Nadesan set up other bogus companies and trusts in countries hiding under the law and used those companies to obtain lucrative advisory contracts and buy art from companies doing business with the Sri Lankan government,” ICIJ said.
“One of these companies, Pacific Commodities, has sent 31 other South Asian works of art, including 31 paintings, to the Geneva Freeport warehouse, which does not have to pay property taxes or duties.”
Thirukumar Nadesan’s long-term accounting firm Asiaciti Trust, based in Singapore, had secretly estimated his net worth at more than $ 160 million in 2011, but the group of investigative journalists has not been able to independently confirm that. ICIJ estimates that the assets managed by Asiacity from Nadesan’s offshore companies and funds are around $ 11 million.
The International Group of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) says that Nirupama Rajapaksa and Thirukumar Nadesan have refused to answer questions about the findings of the investigation.
