Sri Lanka has sought the advice of its top lawyer to initiate the process of freezing more than 600 bank accounts maintained by the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) across the world.
The details of these accounts have been gradually spilled by Kumaran Pathmanathan (KP), LTTE chief V Prabhakaran successor and the outfit’s former international relations chief.
KP was arrested from outside a hotel in Kuala Lumpur in August and has been in the custody of the Sri Lankan police since.
Wanted by the Interpol and India, KP had also unsuccessfully tried to negotiate a ceasefire between the government and the LTTE in May.
Investigators here have now got in touch with the office of Attorney General to begin the process of freezing the accounts.
The government did not disclose the amount of money that could be stacked up in the banks.
It could easily run into billions of US dollars.
KP himself was one of the main fundraisers for the Tamil Tigers and maintained links with financiers worldwide.
The estimate of 600 bank accounts, however, is a revision of the earlier figure of 1582 bank accounts given by the government.
{{/usCountry}}The estimate of 600 bank accounts, however, is a revision of the earlier figure of 1582 bank accounts given by the government.
{{/usCountry}}That statistic was also attributed to KP.