Four former Sri Lanka Customs officers have been sentenced to 35 years of rigorous imprisonment by the Colombo High Court after they were found guilty of soliciting a bribe of Rs. 125 million in 2015.
The four former Customs officials were found guilty of soliciting a bribe from a businessman for releasing spare parts for Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) buses in 2015.
In 2015, the customs officers in question had informed a foreign company that a post-audit had found that a payment of Rs 1,500 million was required to release a consignment of spare parts, to be used by the the SLTB.
However, representatives of the company had stated that they were not legally obliged to make such a payment, after which the customs officers had negotiated to waive the payment if they agreed to a bribe of Rs 150 million.
Having informed the Bribery Commission in this regard, the company representative had negotiated with the bribe being reduced to Rs 125 million. The customs officers were arrested while accepting the bribe from the company representatives at an agreed location in Colombo. (Newswire)
