Minister of Trade Dr. Bandula Gunawardena, while speaking in Parliament today (5), admitted that a garlic fraud had taken place at Lak Sathosa.

He added that this was not the first or last time a fraud had taken place in the institution.

Gunawardena was responding to a question raised by Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa under Standing Order 27 (2).

In this case, three bids were obtained illegally outside the tender procedure and all receipts for the bids were obtained.Gunawardena also assured that he would present the relevant documents to Parliament.

He added that the purchases were made outside the specified procurement process..

However, the Chairman and the Chief Executive did not attend these meetings and were not involved in the incident in any way, the minister said.

He said it was up to the Judiciary to take action on the case and expressed confidence that the court would do justice.

Gunawardena said that neither he nor the Prime Minister nor the Cabinet had issued an order to question the media regarding the incident, adding that the CID had decided to take evidence from the media personnel who reported on the matter.

He added that the Criminal Investigations Department is in the process of revealing some vital information about this controversy.