Sri Lanka's ex-finance minister arrested over alleged corruption
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s former finance minister Ravi Karunanayake was arrested on Monday for allegedly using state funds to pay his private employees, the country’s main anti-corruption body said.
Sri Lanka's former finance minister, Ravi Karunanayake, was arrested on Monday by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) over allegations of using state funds to pay his private employees, according to the country's main anti-corruption body. The ex-cabinet minister was taken into custody following a lengthy interrogation, the CIABOC official informed AFP without providing their name.
Karunanayake, who was part of former President Ranil Wickremesinghe's administration, is accused of paying salaries to three individuals from the National Lotteries Board who worked privately for him. This arrest is part of a broader anti-corruption crackdown initiated by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who assumed office in 2024.
Earlier this month, another ex-minister, Keheliya Rambukwella, was arrested for allegedly aiding the theft of a centuries-old sacred rock from the palace of Sri Lanka's last Sinhala king. Rambukwella held the position of health minister during Sri Lanka's 2022 financial crisis, when the country defaulted on a $46 billion foreign debt.
All immediate family members of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa are currently under investigation or prosecution for money laundering, bribery, and murder charges, despite their vehement denials.
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