It was revealed today that a sum of Rs. 113.8 million has been paid to the top officials of the relevant regulatory bodies to prevent the disclosure of financial irregularities of the institution.

This was during the hearing of the Special Presidential Commission appointed to inquire into the alleged irregularities that took place in the institution.

A senior official of the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka testified before the Commission today.

The witness stated before the Commission that he had had worked as an Accountant in the Investigation Division of the Central Bank and participated in an Investigation of ETI in February 2012.

He said that he came to know that ETI was maintaining undisclosed accounts.

The witness pointed out to the Commission that while there were 12 billion rupees in the accounts revealed in 2012, there was 8.6 billion rupees in the undisclosed accounts.

The witness told the Commission at the end of his investigation report that the continued existence of ETI was uncertain as its financial position was very low considering the liquidity, assets, etc. of the institution.

The witness stated before the Commission that the value of the loans given by ETI to the subsidiaries through undisclosed accounts in the year 2012 was Rs. 1.455 billion.

The witness stated that Rs. 113.8 million had been paid to the authorities of the regulatory bodies and influential persons in other institutions through a special account maintained among the undisclosed accounts of ETI.

The witness said that he was able to get this information from an accountant who was with ETI at that time.

The witness told the commission that there were several other such obscure accounts and that the ETI accountant had failed to give a clear answer as to what kind of payments were used to make them.

The witness also revealed that although Rs. 33.4 million had been paid to import a car, it had not been registered in the name of the company.

The witness stated that although Rs. 94.9 million had been paid to purchase the land, he had not found any evidence regarding the property acquired.

The witness pointed out to the Commission that it was also problematic to obtain insurance cover for the depositors' money as it was recorded in the undisclosed account books.