J. M. Rajaratnam

Jesuthasan Mylvaganam Rajaratnam (23 December 1927 – 16 June 2014) was a Sri Lankan Tamil accountant and corporate executive.

J. M. Rajaratnam
Born(1927-12-23)23 December 1927
Died16 June 2014(2014-06-16) (aged 86)
New Jersey, USA
Alma materUniversity of Ceylon
OccupationAccountant

Early life and family

Rajaratnam was born on 23 December 1927.[1] He was the son of A. J. Mylvaganam from Alvai near Point Pedro in northern Ceylon.[1] He was educated at Hartley College and Jaffna Central College.[1][2]

After school Rajaratnam joined the University of Ceylon, graduating with an honours degree in chemistry.[1] He then went to study accountancy in the United Kingdom on a scholarship.[1][2] He was elected president of the Ceylon Students Association (London) in 1956 and he was also the vice president of the London Tamil Sangam which he helped establish.[1][2] Thereafter he studied management accountancy in the United States, again on a scholarship.[1] He was a fellow member (FCA) of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.[3]

Rajaratnam married Rajeswari Muttucumaru.[1] They had three sons (Rajakumaran, Rajakanthan and Rajarengan) and two daughters (Shanthini and Vathani).[1]

Career

Rajaratnam taught briefly at Jaffna Central College.[3] Later he was appointed senior auditor at the accountancy firm Ford Rhodes, Thornton & Co and chief accountant at Brown & Co.[1][3] He then joined the Singer Company as financial controller.[4] He was chairman and CEO of Singer's operations in Ceylon in the 1970s before being promoted to Vice President Asia Region for the Singer Company in 1976.[1][5] During his time in Ceylon he helped establish numerous small businesses in the north of the country.[2] He moved to the USA after being appointed Singer's Vice President of Finance and Accounting.[3][4]

After retirement Rajaratnam was involved in various philanthropic projects and was chairman of the Rajaratnam Charity Foundation.[1][3][2] He was president of the Illankai Tamil Sangam of the USA, vice president of the World Tamil Organisation and founding member of the Welfare & Human Rights Committee USA.[3] He was also a consultant to the World Bank, member of the Roster of Experts on matters related to transnational corporations of the United Nations and a member of the US Executive Volunteer Service Corp.[3]

Following the scandal of his son Rajakumaran's insider trading case, Rajaratnam was sued by Sri Lankan victims of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for allegedly giving millions of dollars to "terrorists".[6][7] The plaintiffs alleged that Rajaratnam had made charitable contributions of $5 million to the Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation, an organisation with alleged ties to the LTTE.[8]

Rajaratnam died on 16 June 2014 in New Jersey.[3]

References
  1. Arumugam, S. (1997). Dictionary of Biography of the Tamils of Ceylon. p. 150.
  2. "Rajaratnam Snr, an icon in Tamil philanthropy, passes away". TamilNet. 22 June 2014.
  3. "Loss of Past President JM Rajaratnam (1928-2014)". Ilankai Tamil Sangam.
  4. Seevaratnam, Frank R. (July 2014). "J. M. Rajaratnam: An Appreciation". Monsoon Journal. 9 (2): 32.
  5. Samath, Feizal (18 October 2009). "Raj's arrest triggers panic in Lanka". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka).
  6. McCool, Grant (22 October 2009). "Sri Lanka war victims sue Rajaratnam in U.S. court". Reuters.
  7. Glovin, David (22 October 2009). "Rajaratnam Financed Tamil Tigers, Victims Say in Suit". Bloomberg L.P.
  8. Sandholm, Drew (22 October 2009). "Victims, Survivors Suing Rajaratnam for Allegedly Financing Terrorist Group". ABC News.
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