Retired Army Captain Upul Illangange, currently resident in Oklahoma, USA, yesterday claimed that Presidential candidate Gen. Sarath Fonseka’s son-in-law Danuna Tilakaratne had forged his signature and supplied arms to the Sri Lanka Army.

At a press conference in Colombo, the ex-soldier said that those transactions had been done with the full knowledge of the then Army Commander Gen. Fonseka and they were fraudulent. Fonseka had influenced certain officers in the army to purchase arms from his son in law’s company Hicorp International, Illangange said.

Illangange said that the address given by General Fonseka for his Green Card and the address under which Hicorp International had been registered were the same.

"After Tillakaratne came to know that I had discovered that my signature had been forged in the documents pertaining to Hicorp, he filed notice of change in the registered agent with Secretary of Sate of Oklahoma designating his friend Ruwinda Guanaratna as the new agent and changed the address of the company," he said.

Fonseka, serving as the Chairman of the Tender Board of the Army, had also greatly influenced the purchases from Hicorp International by the Army, Illangange alleged.

Ruvinda Gunaratne’s signature in the document of change of registration in 2009 did not match with his signature in the incorporation document of Hicorp in 2005, he said.

"I am in possession of all the documents pertaining to transactions with Hicorp International. If there is any threat to myself or my property General Fonseka should take responsibility," Illangange said.

Illangange said that he had known Fonseka for the last 35 years. He said: "We were family friends. The General has carried me on his shoulders when I was a kid. It was I who helped Gen Fonseka, his wife Anoma and his two daughters to obtain the Green Card which is a prerequisite for citizenship in the US."

Courtesy: Island