That letter also said while these dues are yet to be paid, the company has transferred funds to other firms in the group. “We wanted to know why dues were not paid when it seems the company had enough money to transfer to other firms,” a Ministry of Finance official told the Business Times. He added that on top of all this drama, the owners changed hands and they had to write to Agalawatte again.  The drama began when Mackwoods Plantations Ltd on July 14 sold its majority stake in Agalawatte Plantations to the Browns Group-controlled LOLC company for Rs. 304 million.

With the Mackwoods group in the midst of a power struggle with its chairman Chris Nonis pitted against individuals including his sister and former co-chairman Nirmali Samaratunga, the latter complained to the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that the transaction was not proper in law.  The deal was then suspended by the SEC amidst protests from the Mackwoods Group with a further development being the Appeal Court on August 10 issuing notice on the SEC and CSE based on a writ application made by Browns Power Holdings Ltd challenging the delay in approving the transaction.

(By Duruthu Edirimuni Chandrasekera - sundaytimes.lk)