Controversial businessman Arjun Aloysius is attempting to reclaim the management of alcohol producer W.M. Mendis & Company, which he owns, a mere two years after handing it over to a company for a 10-year period, The Sunday Morning Business learns. This has come to light with an enjoining order being obtained by the said company, Jayasiri Holdings (Pvt.) Ltd., on 9 June from the Commercial High Court to prevent Aloysius interfering in the management of W.M. Mendis. Aloysius is the central figure in the infamous 2015 Bond Scam, for which he spent nearly a year in remand custody, and is the owner of primary dealer Perpetual Treasuries. He is the son-in-law of former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran. Aloysius was arrested in February 2018 and in April 2018, he signed an agreement with Jayasiri Holdings, giving over the management of W.M. Mendis to the latter for a 10-year period. However, a short while after he was released on bail in January 2019, Aloysius had repeatedly attempted to assert himself over Jayasiri Holdings by constantly entering the premises located in Welisara and interfering in the affairs of the management. As the ownership of the company still lay with Aloysius, this created several complications, both legal and interpersonal. Furthermore, the controversy surrounding Aloysius and his company Perpetual Treasuries had resulted in bad publicity for W.M. Mendis, with rumours spreading that Aloysius had taken back control of the company. At this point, Jayasiri Holdings had made millions of rupees worth of investments into reviving and developing W.M. Mendis, particularly since its liquor license was cancelled and the company had gained a bad reputation. The expenses borne by Jayasiri Holdings in settling overdue staff payments, the reactivation of the liquor license, and general improvements to the company had by then amounted to over Rs. 800 million. Jayasiri had then resorted to legal action and sought an injunction against Aloysius entering the business premises and interfering in its affairs in violation of the agreement. M.U.M. Ali Sabry PC with Attorneys-at-Law Buddhika Illangatillake and Samhan Munzir appeared for the plaintiff company instructed by Attorney-at-Law Dhammika Jiminige. The case is to be taken up again on Tuesday (16). Aloysius gained control of W.M. Mendis in 2011 when his company Perpetual Capital Ltd. acquired a controlling stake in the popular liquor producer for reportedly over Rs. 1 billion. It was at the time the most significant acquisition made by Aloysius. W.M. Mendis is one of the four players in the alcohol industry, which is led by the Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka and also includes Rockland Distilleries and IDL.