SC affirms conviction and sentence against fugitive mastermind in South Asia’s largest VAT scam
Saturday, 12 July 2025 - 10:07 pm
In view of the withdrawal of the Special Leave to Appeal application filed by Mohammed Kamil Kuthubdeen, the 8th accused in South Asia’s largest Value Added Tax (VAT) fraud case, the Supreme Court today affirmed the majority judgment of the Court of Appeal, which had upheld the convictions and sentence imposed against him over the VAT fraud case.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court further ordered not to proceed with the per incuriam application filed by Kuthubdeen, citing that it was an abuse of the process of court.
The judgment was delivered by a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justices Janak de Silva, Mahinda Samayawardena and Arjuna Obeyesekere.
The Supreme Court permitted to withdraw the leave to appeal application filed by Kamil Kuthubdeen, who has been evading justice for over two decades, subject to the payment of Rs. 500,000 as state costs.
Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Shanil Kularatne had earlier informed the Supreme Court that an “unprecedented” development in the Court of Appeal: a third-party petition filed on behalf of Kuthubdeen, seeking to re-open the very judgment that convicted him, while his leave to appeal remains pending before the Supreme Court.
Kuthubdeen, the alleged mastermind of the Rs. 3.9 billion VAT fraud, has been absconding since the indictment was filed in 2007. An inte ational red notice for his arrest remains in force.
The apex court was informed that despite his fugitive status, a third-party petition and affidavit had been filed before the Court of Appeal on July 27, 2024, requesting the appointment of a five-judge bench to revisit the 2023 majority judgment that upheld his conviction.
The case, initially tried before the High Court for over five years, involved 14 accused who were found guilty of orchestrating a massive VAT refund scam by submitting fraudulent claims to the Department of Inland Revenue. The trial featured over 200 witnesses and 3,000 marked documents. All accused were convicted, and their assets frozen due to unpaid fines. Kuthubdeen, regarded as the chief architect of the fraud, was convicted in absentia.
The Court of Appeal heard the appeals in 2023, where a divided bench Justice Bandula Karunaratne acquitting and Justices Sampath Abeykoon and R. Gurusinghe affirming the convictions, delivered its majority judgment on December 13, 2023.
While Kuthubdeen’s special leave to appeal is still pending before the Supreme Court, the Atto ey General’s Department had raised alarm over the new Court of Appeal petition (per incuriam application), wa ing of serious due process violations.
Faisz Musthapha PC, with Upul Kumarapperuma PC and Amila Perera, instructed by Sanjeewa Kaluarachchi appeared for Mohammed Kamil Kuthubdeen, while Shanil Kularatne PC, ASG, with Maheshika Silva, DSG, instructed by Rizni Firdous, SSA, appeared for the Atto ey General.
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