Singapore citizen starts petition urging money laundering probe against Gotabaya Rajapaksa

As Sri Lanka scrambles to tackle a never seen before crisis, one Singaporean resident has begun an online petition to hold the island’s ex-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa guilty of money laundering. According to a report by ANI, the petition has been launched by Raymond Ng, who has asked Singapore’s Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam to investigate Gotabaya for money laundering. It is pertinent to note that after fleeing Sri Lanka, the former leader has currently taken refuge in Singapore.

In his petition, meanwhile, Raymond said that at present Gotabaya was under Singapore’s jurisdiction adding that authorities must probe him. “Singapore is a country with rule of law, and nobody in Singapore is above the law,” he said. Raymond said that he has also filed a police report admitting that he understands the Singapore Police Force needs to know how serious this is to start an investigation.

“Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has just landed on the Republic of Singapore around 7.17pm. As a result of this, my loyalty to the Republic of Singapore compels me to make a police report on this President. On potential breach of our Money Laundering Laws,” he wrote in his petition on Change.org.

Notably, he also raised questions if the custom check saw whether Gotabaya was carrying any cash or gold/silver. “I got to know that he has some express private lane due to which such checks may have been skipped,” the Singaporean said. In addition, he also raised an alarm over the former Sri Lankan leader's mobile phones or computers for any potential cryptocurrencies that he may be carrying along with him.

Rajapaksa defends himself in his resignation letter

"I served my motherland to the best of my ability and I will continue to do so in the future," former Sri Lankan president Rajapaksa has said, as he defended himself in his resignation letter which was read out during a special session of Parliament earlier on Saturday. Sri Lanka's Parliament met briefly following the resignation of Rajapaksa, who fled to the country on Wednesday after a popular uprising against him for mishandling the country's economic crisis. The resignation letter sent by Rajapaksa from Singapore was read during the 13-minute special session.

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