News

Sri Lankan born UK national pleads guilty to financial crimes in US

24 Aug, 2021

A Sri Lankan born British national, Sivendran Vettivetpillai, has pleaded guilty to serious financial crimes in the US.

The former senior managing partner of Abraaj equity group pleaded guilty to nine counts of criminal charges carrying a total of 115 years in jail and a fine of up to $11.5 million, Daily Times Pakistan reported.

According to Sivendran Vettivetpillai?s guilty plea, these criminal activities took place between 2014 and 2018, as charged by the United States authorities.

The Sri Lankan born British national pleaded guilty to the serious charges before Judge Sarah Netburn at the US District Court in the Southern District of New York.

According to court papers lodged at the London High Court and the New York District Court, Sivendran Vettivetpillai pleaded guilty to serious financial crimes in order to get less jail years and fine through a bargain with the US authorities against Pakistani national former founder and chief executive of Abraaj, Mr Syed Arif Naqvi.

The guilty plea by Sivendran Vettivetpillai follows a guilty please by another Abraaj managing partner Mustafa Abdel-Wadood who also pleaded guilty to the same charges. Pakistani national Arif Naqvi is the only Abraaj senior figure vociferously fighting all charges and maintaining his innocence. Arif Naqvi has said that he didn?t commit any crime and his lawyers didn?t comment when approached about the guilty plea by other Abraaj exceutives. (Colombo Gazette)

Recommended For You

Feature Image

US hopes new Government will uphold human rights

The United States hopes the new Government uphold human rights and the rule of law, and protect the country’s sovereignty. The US Embassy in Colombo, in a statement this morning, said that on August 5, the people of Sri Lanka exercised a fundamental democratic right and went to the polls to elect their next parliament. The Embassy said the United States congratulates Sri Lanka on conducting the elections in a peaceful and orderly manner despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. A

07 Aug, 2020

Feature Image

Hardliners Wigneswaran, Ponnambalam enter Parliament

Hardliners C.V Wigneswaran and Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam have secured seats in Parliament at the just concluded Parliamentary election. Wigneswaran contested from the?Tamil People’s National Alliance in the Jaffna District while Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam contested from the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (AITC). Wigneswaran was the former Chief Minister in the Northern Province and came to the limelight with the support of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA). However, he later split from the TNA and

07 Aug, 2020

Feature Image

Sirisena secures highest votes in Polonnaruwa

Former President Maithripala Sirisena secured the highest preferential votes in the Polonnaruwa District at the 2020 General Election. Sirisena, with over 111,000 votes, is one of four Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) candidates to be elected to Parliament from the Polonnaruwa District. Others elected from the SLPP are?Roshan Ranasinghe,?Siripala Gamlath and?Amarakeerthi Athukorala. Meanwhile, Kins Nelson was elected from the Samagi Jana Balawegaya. (Colombo Gazette)

06 Aug, 2020