HICORP & SARATH FONSEKA: Rabbit Hole Runs Deeper

Definition of Quicksand: A deep, wet sand that you sink into if you try to walk on it. If you struggle to get out, chances are that you won't get out at all. Unless you were saved by someone else or you hold on to something solid

With the name HICORP coming to picture and the confusion General Sarath F got himself into doesn't seem to end there...

Latest blunder followed Sarath F's legacy of blunders and unwanted exposures when his Son-In-Law made statement on HICORP Website:

By trying to make a statement or by trying to show some gentlemanly gesture what Danuna has let out is the Sarath F's ownership in HICORP.

Yes, that where the story start becoming gross and yucky. Squeaky Clean General Sarath F has shares or ownership in HICORP.

So what? Whats wrong with that? The problem seem to be General Sarath F was the chairman of the tender-board. Do we smell a conflict of interest or some severe ethical concerns here? By the way according to his son in law, he was not being biased toward HICORP. Fine...

Lets look at the timeline and the sequence how things got unfolded:

1. When these accusations surfaced sometime back. First Sarath F denied any involvement with this affair, existence of HICORP under his son-in-law's name and its dealings with SL ARMY.

UNP Badulla District MP Lakshman Seneviratne said that the Opposition had received information that some Ministers of the government would be tabling some forged documents to sling mud at General Fonseka. "The question we have is why the government failed to bring them up earlier, while Fonseka was in their camp. We, too, have found all the relevant documents. The Hicorp International is a company registered in USA," he said.

"There is a Lankan company by the name Hicorp Private Ltd. These two companies are not connected. Why you did not produce these documents to the CID?" [Source: The Island]

2. When the heat started building up and when people started digging into details, Sarath F went on making a statement that his son-in-law's company only made a sale involving security camera's to the army HQ.

However my son had no direct connection with the company and despite submitting tenders it never won any contracts. Hicorp of the USA was registered in Oaklahoma and my son was a point of contact for the company though he was not involved in founding it. The company needed a US address and Danuna’s was provided as a contact address, that was the extent of his involvement.

While that company did win a tender to supply security cameras to army headquarters — documents prove that this tender was awarded while I was recovering from the 2006 suicide attack. I was in hospital and played absolutely no part in awarding the tender. [source: The Sunday Leader]

3. And now Danuna (his son in law) making a statement on Sarath F's ownership on HICORP and his unbiased decisions on awarding the tenders

4. LankaTruth JVP's Website attributing the HICORP website statement to a hacker attack, qouted Danuna saying he got no connection with this HICORP company in USA that's been hacked and its a separate company:

When ‘Lankatruth’ inquired from Mr. Tilekeratne he said he had no connection whatsoever with that organization and he did not issue such a statement. He added that his lawyers were taking legal action regarding this matter.

Meanwhile a spokesman for ‘Hicorp’ said their web site has been hacked and it would be corrected soon. [Source: Lanka Truth]

The Analysis:

Point1: According to UNP/JVP, those are two companies that has no relationship

Point2: According to Sarath F, Danuna was helping out his friends and HICORP US registration/address belongs to Danuna (So point1 and point2 does not add up?)

Point3: Danuna himself as the president of HICORP accepting the awarded tenders

Point4: 4.1. According to UNP/JVP statements in 'The Island' Danuna also owns a company named HICORP registered in 2005 which is not involved in SL ARMY dealings

4.2. According to JVP [LankaTruth] Danuna has connection no with this hacked HICORP

4.3. However this hacked website is registered during the same time period and strangely this HICORP company (hacked website) is also belong to a Sri Lankan address in Kirullapona (rumored area of Danuna's mother's salon and business premises)

4.4. As far as we gathered "HICORP" is not a very popular name or product as if "Chinese food" or "Chinese Restaurants" in USA or any other parts of the world. So this becomes a strange co-incidence that we have companies

___A. Danuna representing a HICORP (giving his own address as a favor to a friend) in USA (a friend's company: in Sarath F's interview with Sunday Leader)

___B. His own company again a HICORP

___C. This hacked HICORP which was registered at the same time as Danuna registered his company and it has a SL address too..

What do we have here? Do you smell anything?

Now:

1. If he was so clean why does he have to change the version of his story every now and then?

2. Is it exemplary behavior we are expecting from a presidential hopeful?

3. Doesn't it indicate the possible (positive) foul play?

With this HICORP PR blunder there were few sympathisers who wanted to attribute that to a hacker overrunning the site security or someone setting up a decoy website and publishing blasphemous info to harm General Squeaky Clean Fonseka. However there are certain facts we have to analyze here.

1. The site's registration and ownership: According to the WHOIS record of the site its registered in 2005 (the time period when Sarath F became the army commander) and its transfered ownership on 2007 (again in a time where everything was smooth sailing for HICORP and SF aspect despite the war was raging). So the WHOIS result verifies the website being registered way back in past and theres no possibility of foul play there.

2. The possibility of a Hacker compromising the security: The page info shows the page was published/updated on 05-Jan-2010 8:05PM (noticed 2 days back), however by the time this article is written (07-Jan-2010 10:38PM) the webpage with the statement exists and no attempt had been made to remove it.

If we go into the technicality of shutting down a hacker attacked site (specially since its ownership has not been compromised) it can be done with few emails and proving the ownership (maximum of 1hr to 12 hrs).

If we put the pieces of this puzzle (not really a puzzle) together forming a clear picture on what really happened with the dealings of HICORP, Sarath F and his son-in-law shouldn't be child's play.

What we can see here is UNP, JVP, Sarath F and his son-in-law Danuna has got themselves into a political (and possibly legal) quicksand and they are drowning due to fanatical struggle to get out of the mess they created.

You can download the PDF version of the HICORP homepage and WHOIS records here: http://tinyurl.com/hicorp-unveiled

Useful links related to post:

http://voter2010.blogspot.com/2010/01/investigate-possible-corruption-and_04.html

http://www.island.lk/2010/01/06/news10.html
http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2009/12/13/%E2%80%9Ci-survived-to-do-my-duty-by-my-country%E2%80%9D-%E2%80%93-general-sarath-fonseka/
http://www.dailymirror.lk/DM_BLOG/Sections/frmNewsDetailView.aspx?ARTID=72914