Businessman Dudley Sirisena has issued a detailed statement explaining the controversy surrounding the import of his Rolls-Royce vehicle, saying he was not involved in any customs misdeclaration and had only purchased the car through an intermediary company.
Sirisena said he had arranged all banking facilities, including letters of credit, and initially imported a Rolls-Royce Phantom 8 months ago, but later learned that cross-border import regulations had been reactivated, forcing him to re-export the vehicle and pay additional charges. He said an agreement was later reached with the supplier to import an upgraded model.
He said the recently imported Rolls-Royce Phantom Series 8 Extended Wheelbase (EWB) vehicle was brought to Sri Lanka through a well-known intermediary company, which handled customs clearance and tax payments before delivering the vehicle to him. Sirisena said he later learned that Sri Lanka Customs had imposed a penalty of about Rs. 70 million on the importer over an alleged failure to declare the correct model specification, and maintained that any errors by the importer were not his responsibility.
A spokesperson for Sri Lanka Customs told NewsWire that two Rolls-Royce vehicles were recently imported, but none were imported by Sirisena. “He may have bought any of them,” the spokesperson said, adding that the department has sought legal advice from the Attorney General’s Department on whether details of customs law violations can be disclosed to the media. “We are still awaiting such advice. Hence, details regarding imposing of any penalties after customs inquiries cannot be disclosed right now,” the spokesperson said. (Newswire)
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