• NAO claims state has lost millions in revenue

The Department of Motor Traffic (DMT) has initiated an investigation against officials who are allegedly connected to a racket of registration of luxury vehicles under registration numbers of diplomatic vehicles which are no longer in use, The Daily Morning learns.  

A recent audit report issued by the National Audit Office, revealed that some officials of the DMT had been registering luxury vehicles using cancelled vehicle numbers given to diplomatic officials in Sri Lanka for a long time, and the Government has lost millions of tax revenue due to this fraud.

However, he said that they have started the investigation based on information they received from Department sources.

When contacted by The Daily Morning yesterday (17), DMT Commissioner General Nishantha Weerasinghe said he had directed that a Department-level investigation be launched into the incident, but added that the audit report did not include any information regarding the particular scam.

The same report states that those vehicles imported and cleared by the DMT for diplomatic purposes have been registered using the vehicle identification numbers (chassis number) and engine numbers of other luxury vehicles.

When re-exporting those diplomatic vehicles, it was found that six vehicles had been registered in past years, and the chassis numbers and engine numbers of other luxury vehicles were falsely included.

Recently the Commission to Investigation Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) found that some 5,000 vehicles had been illegally imported and registered using fraudulent methods, thus causing a huge loss to the country’s economy.