The President of the Republic of Maldives, Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, departed Sri Lanka on Wednesday morning (06) from the Bandaranaike International Airport, Katunayake, concluding a successful state visit to the country.

The visit by the Maldivian President and his delegation further strengthened the longstanding friendship and cooperation between the Maldives and Sri Lanka, while delivering a range of mutual benefits to the peoples of both nations.

This marked President Muizzu’s first state visit to Sri Lanka, during which several mutually beneficial areas of cooperation were agreed upon, underscoring the success of the visit.

Minister of Science and Technology, Krishantha Abeysena, Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports , Sunil Kumara Gamage, Member of Parliament Oshani Umanga, along with senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, were present at the airport to bid farewell to the Maldivian President, the First Lady and the accompanying delegation.

(President’s Media Division)

Close on the heels of the USD 2.5 mn theft from the Treasury, the Welfare Benefits Board has reported payment of nearly Rs 500 mn in excess to Aswesuma beneficiaries.

Public action group ‘Free Lawyers’ has raised the latest fiasco to come to light with Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne, while requesting that the Parliament, in line with its constitutional obligations, initiate an inquiry.

The letter, dated 06 May, signed by Maithree Gunaratne, PC, Attorney-at-Law Athula de Silva, and Rajith Keerthi Tennakoon, on behalf of ‘Free Lawyers’, has alleged that some of the Aswesuma beneficiaries have been paid twice while others received the additional/extra payment.

Responding to The Island queries, Tennakoon said that sheer negligence on the part of those responsible for public finance was shocking.

Alleging that the NPP government seemed to be operating outside basic rules and regulations pertaining to public finances, the former Governor asked the Speaker whether the wrongful Aswesuma payments had been made due to political appointments made at the expense of the experienced and competent staff. (SF)

NDF MP Ravi Karunanayake on Tuesday (05) raised in Parliament what he described as a matter of “grave national importance”, alleging a financial fraud amounting to approximately Rs. 13.2 billion at the NDB Bank, spanning the financial years 2024, 2025 and the first quarter of 2026.

Raising the issue under Standing Order 27(2), Karunanayake called for an urgent response from the Finance Minister, warning that the incident posed serious concerns over regulatory oversight, financial system integrity and statutory accountability under the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Act No. 16 of 2023.

He questioned how the Central Bank of Sri Lanka had failed to detect or act upon, what he termed, a large-scale fraud over a period exceeding three years, despite its supervisory mandate.

Karunanayake further claimed that at least two banks had reported suspicious transactions to the Financial Intelligence Unit, as far back as 16 months, prior to the public disclosure, and queried why such alerts had allegedly gone unacknowledged or unaddressed under Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) obligations.

He also sought clarification on whether investigations had uncovered involvement of other banks or non-bank financial institutions, and the extent of exposure across the wider financial system.

Referring to reports of more than 2,700 CEFT transactions, the MP questioned the failure of the national payment infrastructure, including LankaPay, to trigger alerts, raising concerns over the enforcement of real-time monitoring and reconciliation mechanisms.

Karunanayake called for disclosure of the total value of dividends withheld during the period in question and the impact on institutional shareholders, including the Employees’ Provident Fund, Employees’ Trust Fund and Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation.

He requested an estimate of total fiscal losses to the Government, including direct and indirect tax losses and issues relating to recoverability.

The MP also queried whether any funds had been transferred overseas or via cryptocurrency channels, and if so, how such transactions had been effected without exchange control approval, and what recovery actions were underway.

In addition, Karunanayake sought details on the decline in share price and market capitalisation of the bank following disclosure of the alleged fraud, and the corresponding loss in market value.

He also raised concerns over the appointment of a forensic auditor by the Central Bank, warning of a potential conflict of interest, and called on the government to consider appointing an independent auditor under the authority of the President in his capacity as Minister of Finance.

The government asked for two week time to respond to the MP’s questions.

By Saman Indrajith