Following a revelation by the auditor general, the Education Ministry appointed a five-member investigation unit and its report was submitted in January this year.
The probe is accusing former Commissioner of Publications Sumanatissa Liyanagunawardena, former Additional Commissioner R. Senanayake, Accountant Ranasinghe Arachchige Chandraratne, Chief Clerk Don Swarnalatha Wickramarachchi and Subject Clerk Bandara Godage Sarathkumara.
Mahinda Offset Printers at no: 331/341, Elpitiya Road, Wathugedara, Ambalangoda has also been involved in the swindle, the newspaper reports.
The Commissioner of Publications had awarded this printer a tender worth more than Rs. 147 million for the printing of 3,105,500 copies of 23 textbooks.
However, the ordered number of copies of 'Let's Learn English PB3', 'Let's Learn English PB4, Mechanical Technology 10 (Sinhala and Tamil), Mathematics 10 (Sinhala and Tamil) had not been handed over to the Ministry.
Of five other textbooks, the supplied copies fell short by 548,650 copies valued at over Rs. 27 million, 'Ravaya' says.
Despite all these shortfalls, the printing house had been paid the amount in full with the involvement of the five accused.
The newspaper also says that the probe has also cast doubts over the manner of selection of Mahinda Offset Printers.
When contacted, Education Secretary Nimal Bandara has said that the five officers have been issued with charge sheets, and the police handed over the investigation on the advice of the Public Accounts Committee.
Mr. Gunawardena and Mrs. Senanayake have been sent on retirement, while the three others have been transferred out of the Education Ministry.
Both the ex-commissioner and the accountant have said that they were yet to receive the charge sheets, with the former saying that he was prepared to answer the accusations.
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