Committee on Public Finance (CoPF) member Patali Champika Ranawaka has raised concerns over the involvement of a bank account in Dubai concerning the income received via the visa application process operated by VFS Global at the Katunayake Airport.
Briefing the media on the petition filed at the Supreme Court, together with CoPF members Rauff Hakeem and M.A. Sumanthiran against the VFS visa deal, MP Ranawaka alleged that the income of VFS Global was being transferred to an account in Dubai.
MP Ranawaka further said that it had been found that the money was being deposited from the Dubai account to the Sri Lanka Immigration Department’s account only after a period of one week.
“VFS Global charges US$ 25.77 per tourist. However, it charges less than US$ 4 in Brazil. Therefore, where does the remainder of the money go? It has been found that the money goes to an account in Dubai and after a week is deposited to Sri Lanka Immigration’s account.
“The account holders can invest this money within that week. Whose account is this? Where does the money go from that account? Where is this GBS institute located?” he questioned.
MP Ranawaka further said that they had also presented facts in the court that the ministry has not made any correct identification about the background of this institution.
He alleged that the relevant ministry officials have not taken steps to investigate these concerns and have not even conducted a probe into where the VFS institutions are located.
In July, three petitions were filed at the Supreme Court against Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles and the government against the VFS visa procedure introduced at the Katunayake Airport. Opposition MPs Patali Champika Ranawaka, M.A. Sumanthiran, and Rauff Hakeem filed the three petitions.
In their petitions, they called on the court to issue an order suspending the visa system as there was a potential threat of the breach of vital security data from the nation.
The new visa issuance system by global visa processing service, VFS Global and its charges came under the spotlight after a local passenger had raised concerns over the process, with the video of the incident being widely circulated on social media.
A probe launched by the Committee on Public Finance also found that VFS Global had been picked without calling for official bids and had resulted in the Department of Immigration and Emigration losing out on receiving competitive rates for visa issuance. (Newswire)