Businessman Lalith Kotelawala, who was accused of stealing 26 billion rupees in assets from the defunct Golden Key Credit Company, has died.
At the time of his passing, Deshamanya Deshabandu Jeewaka Lalith Bhupendra Kotelawala, the founder chairman of Seylan Bank and the former head of Ceylinco Consolidated, was 84 years old.
At a Colombo private hospital, he suddenly away while undergoing treatment. In the 1960s, after taking over Ceylinco Consolidated from his father, Kotelawala expanded the company into new industries, such as banking, non-banking finance, investment banking, housing and property development, travel and leisure, communication and information technology, education and healthcare, and microfinance. Three years after sustaining injuries from an LTTE attack in 1996, he established a peace effort in Sri Lanka.
Lalith Kotelawala parents: Meet Justin Kotelawala
Millicent Kotelawala nee de Silva, a prominent surgeon and the daughter of Senator Justin Kotelawala, a politician and businessman from Ceylon, gave birth to Lalith Kotelawala. He attended Royal College in Colombo for his education and pursued chartered accountancy in the UK. He was Sir John Kotelawala’s (Ceylon’s third prime minister) nephew.