Sri Lanka’s latest investigation into alleged financial irregularities surrounding the procurement of luxury buses has opened another potentially explosive chapter in the examination of financial transactions linked to the former administration, with the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) jointly probing the controversial deal.
The bus procurement, carried out under the Ministry of Sports and allegedly connected to activities involving former First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa and the Carlton Pre-School, has emerged as a major focus of the inquiry. Investigators are examining whether public funds were properly utilized, whether procurement procedures were followed and whether the substantial financial value attached to the transaction was justified.
The investigation has reportedly reached a stage where the Attorney General’s Department has advised that sufficient evidence exists to consider criminal charges. The Police Financial Investigations Division is now conducting formal investigations into the alleged irregularities.
The prominence of the luxury-bus transaction is significant because it raises broader questions about how state resources were deployed for purposes associated with institutions and individuals connected to the presidential establishment. Investigators will have to establish the actual purpose of the procurement, the beneficiaries of the buses, the approval process and whether the expenditure complied with public-finance and procurement requirements.
The inquiry does not end with the bus deal. Investigators are also examining the role of the Siriliya Foundation, an organisation linked to the former presidential establishment, together with former Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunga and another former Deputy Secretary to the President.
A separate financial investigation concerns approximately Rs.10 million allegedly released by the National Savings Bank to the Siriliya Foundation for the acquisition of a CT scanner intended for the Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children. Preliminary findings reportedly indicate that instead of purchasing a scanner with the donated funds, a CT scanner supplied by China under a government loan arrangement was subsequently donated to the hospital.
If established, this could create a serious accountability issue: whether funds obtained for a specific medical purchase were actually used for that stated purpose.
Another critical element is the alleged release of the NSB funds following verbal instructions from its then chairman, Pradeep Kariyawasam. Investigators are examining whether proper documentary approvals, resolutions and financial safeguards existed before the money was transferred.
The Attorney General’s Department is reviewing statements obtained from Kariyawasam and other individuals. Investigators are also expected to question Shiranthi Rajapaksa, Siriliya Foundation board members and other officials connected with the transactions.
The unfolding inquiry therefore goes beyond a single bus procurement or hospital donation. It could test whether politically connected organisations were able to access public resources without adequate institutional scrutiny and whether those responsible can ultimately be held criminally accountable.