Singapore rejects Sri Lankan leader's allegation on trading scam suspect

Singapore rejected Wednesday Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena's allegation it was sheltering a former central bank chief wanted for fraud, saying Colombo failed to provide documents to support its extradition request.

Sirisena on Monday accused Singapore of sheltering Arjuna Mahendran, one of his country's former central bank chiefs wanted in connection with a high-profile USD 74 million insider trading scam.

Sirisena said he appealed to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in January to return Mahendran, who is believed to be in Singapore, but claimed nothing had been done.

Mahendran, a Singapore national of Sri Lankan origin, was accused in 2015 of passing sensitive information to his bond-dealer son-in-law to make millions.

The pair are accused of manipulating bond auctions in 2015 and 2016, causing losses of over USD 11 million to the state.

A spokesperson for Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said authorities in the city-state have been cooperating with their Sri Lankan counterparts on the case since January.

However, Sri Lanka's request to return Mahendran "lacked certain information required under Singapore's extradition laws" and the city-state has requested Colombo to provide them, the spokesperson told AFP.

"To date, Singapore has not yet received the requested supporting information and documents," the spokesperson said.

"We look forward to receiving the requested information from Sri Lanka, so that we can consider the request further in accordance with our laws."