Now it can be revealed that he is separately facing legal action over payments that he and others received as directors of a UK investment firm that managed assets based in Kazakhstan. Court documents show that Evans and the other directors have been accused by a former executive of personally enriching themselves by pocketing millions in alleged illicit payments. Evans and the other directors deny the allegations, which they said were part of meritless lawsuits.
Both multifamily residential projects were proposed by DeNova Home Inc., which has come under public scrutiny after federal prosecutors charged its former owner and vice president with corruption in April. The father-and-son duo allegedly offered cash in a coffee thermos to an unidentified Antioch councilmember in an attempt to secure a vote in favor of a different housing development known as the Aviano project. The councilmember reported the matter to the FBI.
In a parallel court filing, the government alleged that these recordings, as well as previous ones in which a now former senior official reveals an alleged internal corruption network, are part of an illegal intelligence operation aimed at destabilizing Argentina's democracy. According to Security Minister Patricia Bullrich, journalists and people linked to Russian intelligence services with influence in Venezuela are behind the plot.
Wickremesinghe, 76, is the first Sri Lankan former head of state to be arrested. He has been accused of using around $55,000 in state funds for a stopover in Britain while returning home from a diplomatic trip to Havana and New York in September 2023. Following his arrest on Friday, the ex-president was taken to Welikada prison in the suburbs of Colombo before being moved to the prison hospital and later the main state-run hospital in the city.
