Sri Lanka’s Perpetual linked W M Mendis to re-start alcohol production: report

Sri Lanka has allowed W M Mendis & Company Ltd, an alcohol maker linked to the Perpetual group of companies to re-start production and pay billions of rupee owed in taxes in installments, a media report said.

Sri Lanka’s The Sunday Times newspaper said tax authorities found W M Mendis owed 3.55 billion rupees in unpaid Value Added Tax and 2.63 billion rupees in Corporate taxes to the Department of Inland Revenue.

A further 1.1 billion was owned to the Excise Department.

The report said the firm had been allowed to resume operations provided it paid the taxes in installments.

The Perpetual Group’s primary dealer arm was involved in a bond trading scam in 2015 and 2016 and its assets were frozen by the central bank subsequently.