CoPF Chair: USD 2.5 mn loss to be recovered through taxes
… alleges Speaker disregarded key recommendation for forensic audit By Shamindra Ferdinando Chairman of the Committee on Public Finance (CoPF) Dr. Harsha de Silva, MP, yesterday (21) said that the people would have to bear the loss of USD 2.5 mn fraudulently transferred from the Treasury to various parties outside the country. The Colombo District […]
Colombo District Member of Parliament Dr. Harsha de Silva, Chairman of the Committee on Public Finance (CoPF), disclosed on Monday that the public will bear a USD 2.5 million loss resulting from fraudulent transfers from the Treasury to external parties. The CoPF, which completed its investigation in July 2026, recommended a forensic audit of the transactions but the Speaker of Parliament, Dr. Jagath Wickremaratne, ignored this advice, directing the Committee to merely forward the report to the Ministry of Finance.
The incident was investigated after the Assistant Director of Sri Lanka’s External Resources Department, Ranga Nishantha Rajapaksha, was found dead under suspicious circumstances. Despite assurances from the government, no significant progress has been made in recovering the lost funds. Dr. de Silva emphasized that the Treasury should make fresh payments, drawing from the budget allocations approved the previous year, and highlighted the speaker's failure to follow the CoPF's recommendation for a forensic audit of the fraudulent transactions.
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