Barely three days after The Morning Telegraph published an expose titled ” NOCSL General Secretary Maxwell Accused of Stealing – Again!” two Executive Committee Members of the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka handed in their letters of resignation.
The said NOCSL Executive Committee Members Lalith Withana Co-Chairman (Finance) and Maj.Gen (Rtd) Dampath Fernando (Chairman Constitution Committee) who were also named in the said report as members of a group within the Ex-Co as tainted and corrupt officials, handed in their letters of resignation last Tuesday.
Incidentally, Laith Withana an alleged master forger of accounts and who had been serving in the NOCSL Ex-Co since 2018, was accused of being a close confidante of the Secretary General Maxwell De Silva who currently is been investigated by multiple bodies, such as the Criminal Investigation Department of Sri Lanka, the Commission to Investigate Bribery or Corruption, the Special Investigation Unit, the NOCSL Ethics Committee and also the Ministry of Sports in Sri Lanka for fraud, corruption and also been involved in human smuggling.
Maj. General (Rtd) Dampath Fernando is also currently banned from holding any office by the Ministry of Sports
Meanwhile, Maj. General (Rtd) Dampath Fernando is also currently banned from holding any office by the Department of Sports, which comes under the purview of the Sports Ministry for misappropriation of funds during the time he served as the President of the Handball Federation of Sri Lanka.
Other key members of the NOCSL Ex-Co such as Gamini Jayasinghe (Treasurer), Chandana Liyanage (Asst.Secretary), Suranjith Premadasa (Member), who along with Lalith Withana and Dampath Fernando were widely accused of delaying and not conducting the said Forensic Audit which was tabled and passed to be conducted at an AGM held earlier in 2021. A President of a Sport Federation who has been relentlessly pursuing the said Forensic Audit to be conducted and whilst speaking to The Morning Telegraph on condition of anonymity said “Lalith Withana the Co-Chairman was a finance professional who used to work closely with P.B.Jayasundara the former Secretary to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa who was found guilty of economic mismanagement by the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. Withana is a ‘Finance Masterchef’. He knows how to cook the books.”
Maxwell De Silva – Secretary General of the NOCSL
Earlier, Member of Parliament Chinthaka Mayadunne in a scathing verbal attack named and accused several NOCSL Executive Members when he took to the floor in parliament.
