Sri Lanka ex-leader alleged to have received kickbacks over Airbus deal
Gulf Times
Sri Lanka ex-leader alleged to have received kickbacks over Airbus deal
The former chief of Sri Lanka's main state-owned airline has admitted to paying the country's ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksa nearly half a mn dollars in kickbacks to wave through purchases of 10 Airbus planes, a court heard Thursday. Rajapaksa, who served as the island nation's president from 2005 to 2015, and his once-powerful family are the subject of several high-profile corruption allegations, which they deny and call politically motivated. The case heard at Colombo Chief Magistrate's Court Thursday chiefly centred on accusations against Kapila Chandrasena, the former CEO of national carrier SriLankan Airlines.
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