SL/CB FORFEITED 71 MILLION RS TRO FUND!! IT SHD BE USED IN NESL!!!

Rs 71 million TRO funds forfeited – CB........................by Devan Daniel

Rs. 71 million lying in the accounts of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) had been forfeited, the Central Bank said yesterday.

The TRO had raised those funds with donations from NGOs, individuals, foreign organisations and its own offices in foreign countries.

"The funds were purported to be used for humanitarian projects in Sri Lanka, but according to intelligence reports, they were mainly used to finance terrorist activities, and the money, securities or credits which were lying to its credit were being used or intended to be used for such purposes," the Central Bank said.

According to the provisions of the Financial Transactions Reporting Act and the Convention on the Suppression of Terrorist Financing Act the funds were frozen in August of 2006.

The Central Bank warned the general public not to have financial or any other links with the TRO, as it would be a criminal offence to do so.

"Investigations are yet in progress to trace and forfeit any further funds and assets belonging to the TRO," the Central Bank said.

In November last year the US government froze assets of the TRO and other organisations on the grounds that they had been fronts of the LTTE raising funds to finance its war in Sri Lanka.

The US did not disclose the amounts frozen.

"In the United States, the TRO has raised funds on behalf of the LTTE through a network of individual representatives. According to sources within the organisation, the TRO is the preferred conduit of funds from the United States to the LTTE in Sri Lanka,"the US Embassy said in a release dated November 15, 2007.

"The TRO also has facilitated LTTE procurement operations in the United States. Those operations included the purchase of munitions, equipment, communication devices, and other technology for the LTTE.

"The TRO's efforts worldwide reportedly have allowed the LTTE to use humanitarian aid, which TRO collected for the international community after the December 2004 tsunami, to launch new campaigns to strengthen LTTE military capacity," the US Embassy said.

The TRO website says it is engaged in humanitarian work in war affected areas concentrating on a diverse range of issues form child welfare, education, empowerment of women, demining and tsunami reconstruction.

The organisation is active in Europe, Canada and Australia.

The TRO website records inward remittances amounting to Rs. 297 million from INGOs in 2005 and 2006.

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NOTE FROM WTRF: This money shd be used by GOSL towards poor Tamil IDPs/Refugees in NESL who lost everything due to MBRL/ARTILLERY/MORTAR/PLANE attacks by GOSL!!!