Sri Lankan Abraaj executive admits to engaging in personal fraud

• Abraaj managing partner statement that he was not involved in aberrations was false, say US govt prosecutors.
• Abraaj managing partner used investor funds to cover liquidity shortfalls, says prosecutor.
• Another Abraaj partner, Mustafa Abdel-Wadood, has also pleaded guilty to similar criminal charges.

LONDON: The US government prosecutors told a judge in New York's Southern District Court that former Abraaj managing partner Sivendran Vettivetpillai's statement that he was not involved in Abraaj's aberrations was false; he was fully aware of what was happening but took no action.

Court papers from the United States District Court, Southern District of New York, show US Prosecutor Andrew Thomas, Assistant United States Attorney on behalf of the US government, stating it was prepared to prove that Abraaj personnel, including Sivendran Vettivetpillai, knowingly"..... used investor funds to cover liquidity shortfalls, used new investor funds to cover existing investment commitments, and delayed promised investments because the funds had been spent improperly on other uses."

Another Abraaj partner, Mustafa Abdel-Wadood, has also pleaded guilty to similar criminal charges, but Arif Naqvi has denied each and every allegation and he’s fighting the US extradition bid. Magistrate Judge Netburn warned the British national, who is also a citizen of Sri Lanka, that if he violated any of the bail conditions, she would issue a warrant for his arrest, and anyone who signed the bond would be responsible for paying the full amount, $10 million, and he could also be charged with a separate crime of bail jumping.In addition, if you commit an offence while you are released, you may be subject to more severe punishment than you would receive if you had committed the offence at any other time, said the judge.

Sivendran Vettivetpillai was charged and pleaded guilty to a total of 15 criminal counts, which included racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, securities fraud, wire fraud, concealment money laundering, international promotional money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and theft of public funds.

Sivendran Vettivetpillai told the court that in pleading guilty and accepting that he was involved in corrupt practises, he was giving up the right to a trial and all of his other rights.

Sivendran Vettivetpillai, also known as Sev Vettivetpillai, said that he "owed all Abraaj's investors a duty of candour and disclosure" and he "breached that duty by not doing more to ensure that they had the same information he had about financial instability and potential misconduct at Abraaj." Sivendran Vettivetpillai confessed to the judge, "I compromised the integrity of my judgment, and for that I am disappointed with myself and very sorry." I do accept full responsibility for my role in what happened, and I will regret it for the rest of my life. "

In pleading guilty to 15 criminal counts, Sivendran Vettivetpillai said he communicated regularly with at least one other member of Abraaj regarding the financial improprieties and knew that the nature of his conduct was intended to mislead investors and would in fact do so, and so he was "intentionally not stopping... or taking action that would have prevented the criminal activity."

The court told Sivendran Vettivetpillai that the total possible maximum sentence of incarceration on all counts would be 145 years of imprisonment and could also include certain financial penalties.

Although, the plea and cooperation agreement agreed upon between Sivendran Vettivetpillai and the US government have been "sealed," court papers do reveal that he has already "agreed to forfeit to the United States an interest that was acquired or maintained as a result of the racketeering activity" and has also "agreed to forfeit to the United States any and all real property, real or personal property that constitutes or is derived from the commission of the offenses".

It is believed one of the "financially responsible persons" to have cosigned Sivendran Vettivetpillai’s $10 million surety bond is his wife, Mrs Menaka Ganeshalingam Vettivetpillai, daughter of Yamuna Ganeshalingam and Kanagasabai Ganeshalingam, the late Sri Lankan Tamil politician who served as Mayor of Colombo in Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lankan-born former Abraaj executive offered the court a vast array of personal properties located around the world to try and satisfy his bail conditions. Court papers list these as being in some of London’s most expensive districts, including mansions in Glenthorne Road in the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham, Queen’s Gate Terrace in the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, Copse Wood Way in Northwest London, as well as property in the DIFC, Dubai, and Columbo, Sri Lanka.

The honourable judge set Sivendran Vettivetpillai’s next hearing before the Southern District of New York Court for January 26, 2022.