Former Minister Johnston Fernando has been released on bail in connection to the case related to an illegally assembled luxury vehicle that was found in the car park of a hotel in Colombo.
The former Parliamentarian was released on five sureties of Rs. 5 million each by the Fort Magistrate’s Court today.
On October 23, Johnston Fernando was arrested by the CID and remanded after having recorded a statement with the CID on the vehicle in question.
The CID launched a probe after receiving a tip-off that a luxury vehicle was found parked at the hotel car park. Hotel authorities had informed that the black colour BMW with number plate WP C 24-0430 had been parked a day before the Presidential Election.
During interrogations at the time, the suspect who had parked the car had confirmed that the vehicle belonged to former minister Johnston Fernando and had been dropped off by his driver. Upon inspection CID officials had found several documents belonging to Johnston Fernando inside the BMW but had not found any documents related to the registration of the vehicle.
Cross-examinations on the garage number of the vehicle with the Motor Traffic Department found that the number plate had been registered under the name of a private firm in Nawala.
Inspections of the BMW’s Chassis number WBA5E52010G115194 by Sri Lanka Customs found that a vehicle with the said Chassis had not been legally brought down to Sri Lanka. Based on a request by the CID officials, officials from the Government Analysts Department inspected the vehicle after which it was revealed that the BMW had been illegally assembled.
Police investigations also found that the illegally assembled vehicle was suspected to have been reported stolen in England, as per the INTERPOL website.
Police Spokesman DIG Nihal Thalduwa told the media that, the vehicle had been manufactured in Germany and sold to a buyer in England and the Police had found links to this vehicle and a similar luxury car reported missing in England in 2021, based on the Chassis and engine numbers. (Newswire)