Arjuna Mahendran

[1] He is a former Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), having been appointed by President Maithripala Sirisena in January 2015 and served until the end of his term on 30 June 2016.

Mahendran also led the analytics team in interpreting market economics and developing investment strategies for HSBC's clients in the region.

For Mahendran's instrumental role in establishing the Board of Investments of Sri Lanka and driving its strategy, he was named a runner-up in Euromoney Strategic Direct Investor's "CEO Lifetime Achievement Award" in 2003.

[14] In March 2019 President Sirisena of Sri Lanka accused Singapore authorities of not acting on his request to frame charges against Mahendran.

[18] The issuing of ten times the advertised bonds, and at a higher than expected rate, was alleged to cost the Sri Lankan government an additional Rs.

[33] The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka did not grant leave to proceed in a fundamental rights case that requested a separate inquiry into the bond issue, as no laws were broken.

[35] In a related development Mahendran's successor at the Central Bank refused to publish a forensic audit commissioned to probe bond auctions, conducted by KPMG/BDO.

[42][43][44] On 28 October 2016 the Committee on Public Enterprises, after a lengthy investigation, found Mahendran responsible for the Bond Issue Scam and recommended legal action be taken against the above.

The Central Bank functioning under the Ministry of National Policy has already blocked and retained a fund of Rs 12 billion belonging to the Perpetual Treasures Ltd'[52] In 2016 an independent report published by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights stated that Such Commissions of Inquiry in Sri Lanka rarely served a useful purpose and stood in the way of competent institutions fulfilling their objectives.

[53] The prolonged nature of the inquiry may be linked to a growing rift between Sri Lanka's president and Prime Minister and the two political parties they each represent in an increasingly fraught coalition government.

[58][59] On 15 March 2018 Colombo Fort Magistrate's Court issued an arrest warrant on Arjuna Mahendra on charges of criminal breach of trust for allegedly providing confidential information of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka to Perpetual Treasuries Limited, a primary dealer connected to and owned by his son-in-law Arjun Aloysius who was arrested on 4 February 2018 along with Kasun Palisena, who was the CEO of Perpetual Treasuries Limited.

[62] Prime Minister Wickremesinghe made a statement in the Sri Lanka Parliament on 5 June 2018 stating that the Singapore government has refused to arrest Mahendran[6] Lawyers of the accused have made submissions to court contending that the presentation of the Commission of Inquiry CCOI) report in a court of law as evidence is not admissible as the COI does not formally follow the judicially recognised law of evidence.

[63] On 28 June 2019, a case was filed at the Permanent High Court Trial at Bar by the Attorney General against Mahendran accused in the Central Bank Treasury Bond Scam and lost multi billions from Sri Lankan's public money.

[65][66][67] However, one of the publications that stated this subsequently carried a reference to Mr Mahendran using his original name, casting doubt on the authenticity of the quote.