TRO is accused of helping the Tamil Tigers to raise funds

KP Regi, Executive Director of TRO, says their staff in Colombo were refused access to their money by bank officials.

The TRO official said he was not aware of the reasons for the Government to freeze nearly Rs.78 million of funds in Sri Lanka.

UK investigation

“We did not receive any official statement from the Central Bank or the Government,” Regi told BBC Sandeshaya.

the results of the review suggested that the TRO Sri Lanka liaised with the LTTE in determining where funds could be applied UK investigation report

The TRO was removed from the list of charities in UK after an investigation that concluded it liaised with the Tamil Tigers “in determining where funds could be applied”.

The UK investigation also concluded that the TRO has failed to “account satisfactorily” of funds held by the organisation.

The funds held by TRO have been transferred to Tamil Support Group (TSG) and the charity is functioning under the new organisation, Regi added.

'Helping' LTTE

All funds received in Sri Lanka were coming through “legally” via government and private banks, according to TRO.

“The Central Bank has already monitored all the bank accounts and our audit reports. The parliamentary select committee also recently received these reports,” he said.

We are not giving money to LTTE but yes we are working in LTTE-controlled areas TRO Executive Director KP Regi

Expatriate Tamils have been contributing money to the TRO.

Many Tamils praise the swift humanitarian work it carried out in Tamil areas of Sri Lanka soon after the 2004 tsunami disaster.

But there have been accusations that LTTE has been using front organisations, including TRO, to raise funds.

Police in the United States last month accused the LTTE of using charities sympathetic to the rebels as a front for money-laundering and fund-raising.

The police arrested a number of people on suspicion of conspiring to buy arms for Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels.

But the TRO denies the accusations.

“We are not giving money to LTTE but yes we are working in LTTE-controlled areas,” Regi told bbcsinhala.com.

There was no immediate response from the Government.