The unfinished towers dominating Colombo Fort have become a powerful symbol of a development project whose promised transformation has instead produced years of litigation, corruption allegations, disputed financial transactions and international money-laundering investigations.
The Krrish Transworks Colombo project, launched in 2012 as a major mixed-development venture on prime Urban Development Authority (UDA) land, was intended to include luxury residences, commercial and retail facilities, a seven-star hotel and the restoration of the historic Transworks Building. The UDA leased the land for 99 years for Rs.5 billion.
More than a decade later, the project remains unfinished and its developer, Krrish Transworks Colombo Ltd., is undergoing court-ordered liquidation. The Commercial High Court ordered the company wound up around August 2024 following action by a major creditor. The leasehold interest itself could eventually be transferred to another investor through the liquidation process.
The latest development has revived scrutiny of the project’s controversial financial history. On September 24, 2026, the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) arrested former Krrish executive director Geethanjali Janaki de Soysa Siriwardena over an alleged Rs.70 million bribe involving Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa. She was remanded until October 6. Investigators allege the money was paid on three occasions to facilitate acquisition of the Fort property and expedite approvals.
The allegation is linked to an earlier FCID investigation into Rs.70 million transferred from Krrish-related accounts into accounts associated with businessman Nimal Perera. Court records reported by local media indicate investigators found no evidence that the alleged rugby sponsorship reached the tournament organisers. Perera previously told investigators that he transferred the money to Rajapaksa in two Rs.35 million payments. Rajapaksa has disputed wrongdoing, while his defence has challenged the credibility of Perera’s evidence.
The financial trail has now extended into the long-running Airbus investigation. CIABOC told court that €1.454 million was paid into a Singapore account linked to Biz Solutions Inc., and that US$800,000 subsequently reached a Singapore account belonging to Sabre Vision Holdings. According to an affidavit attributed to Perera, the money was converted into approximately Rs.100 million and handed to Rajapaksa. Rajapaksa denies receiving the payment, and his lawyers have argued that there is no physical or scientific evidence proving the alleged cash handover.
The international dimension deepened when India’s Enforcement Directorate provisionally attached four acres of Colombo leasehold rights and an unfinished structure valued within an overall attachment of about Rs.224.08 crore in connection with its investigation into Krrish Realtech and promoter Amit Katyal. The ED said Rs.503 crore collected from Indian plot buyers had allegedly been diverted and layered into overseas assets, including the Sri Lankan project.
The unfinished Krrish skyline therefore represents more than a stalled construction site. It now sits at the intersection of a corporate collapse, domestic bribery allegations, disputed political payments and an international proceeds-of-crime investigation leaving the courts and investigators to determine which allegations can ultimately be proved.