Gobinath Sivarajah the Media Manager of the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka was arrested and detained by airport Immigration and Emigration officials early this morning while attempting to flee the country despite an existing overseas travel ban.
He will be produced before the Magistrate today.
Gobinath Sivarajah is the main suspect along with many other NOCSL personal involved in a fraud case which is currently been investigated.
In addition, Maxwell De Silva Secretary General of the NOCSL is suspected to be the mastermind in this particular case that is currently investigated by the Colombo Fraud Investigation Bureau.
It is reported that Gobinath who is currently being investigated by local authorities for cases related to forgery, fraud and corruption was stopped at the Bandaranaiyake International Airport when he was attempting to travel with another NOCSL colleague on an official matter to Europe.
Despite being the Media Manager of the NOCSL, Gobinath Sivarajah also served on two controversial sport bodies such as Teqball (Project Manager) and Dance Sport (Secretary) which were basically paper clubs that were banned recently. Another paper club created by his colleagues is named as Winter Sports which was banned too. The controversies surrounding these sports bodies is where corrupt NOCSL officials got together and created such associations and were siphoning monies from international parent bodies and also from local sponsors.
Gobinath Sivarajah who served as the Secretary of Dance Sport is reported to be investigated for forging the signature of its appointed President Malinga Fernando and had obtained a sponsorship of Rs 800,000 from a businessman who was also reported to have been blackmailed into parting with this sum of money.
The arrest of Gobinath Sivarajah, an IT expert known for his significant support to Secretary General Maxwell De Silva, opens a can of worms. With Gobinath detained, the net is likely closing in on several other National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka (NOCSL) officials who have enjoyed a free hand for years.
The other suspects named in multiple cases currently being investigated for offenses related to corruption, fraud, racketeering and human smuggling are NOCSL Treasurer Gamini Jayasinghe, Malinga Fernando, Dinesh Krishantha and Suranjith Premadasa.
The Criminal Investigation Department and the Commission to Investigate Allegation of Bribery or Corruption are also closing in on many investigations to arrest these suspects.
Earlier NOCSL Chairman Finance Lalith Vithana and Major General (Rtd) Dampath Fernando resigned and fled the NOCSL Executive Committee after they too were named along with these mentioned officials.
There are many other Sports Bodies in same business as NOCSL Officials in SL. Pathetic situation is that the Politicians support these culprits for their survival and for mutual benefits.