Court orders arrest of Shamindra Rajapaksa in SriLankan Airlines Airbus bribery case

The Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court has ordered the arrest of Shamindra Rajapaksa, son of former Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa, in connection with the SriLankan Airlines Airbus aircraft corruption case.

The order was issued today (February 2) after the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) named Shamindra Rajapaksa as the third suspect in an investigation into alleged financial fraud linked to the purchase of Airbus aircraft for the national carrier. He is currently reported to be residing in the United States.

Colombo Fort Magistrate Isuru Neththikumara directed the CID to arrest and produce him before court and also instructed officials to seek INTERPOL assistance and issue a Red Notice for his arrest.

The case centers on the purchase of aircraft for SriLankan Airlines between 2012 and 2013. During this period, the airline planned to retire older planes and replace them with 14 new aircraft, including Airbus A330s and A350s. Investigations later revealed that Airbus had agreed to pay bribes amounting to USD 16.84 million in connection with the deal.

Former SriLankan Airlines CEO Kapila Chandrasena and his wife, Priyanka Wijeynayake, have already been named as the first and second suspects. They are accused of receiving USD 2 million from Airbus and laundering the funds. Both are currently out on bail.

Investigators found that part of the bribe money had been transferred through accounts in Brunei and Singapore before reaching Chandrasena’s accounts in Australia and Sri Lanka. Further inquiries revealed that USD 160,000 was transferred in 2013 into an account belonging to Shamindra Rajapaksa.

The CID informed the court that attempts to record a statement from Shamindra Rajapaksa were unsuccessful as he was overseas at the time. They also revealed that he had served as a member of the relevant Board of Directors during the aircraft deal and that one meeting related to the transaction had taken place at the Speaker’s official residence.

Following submissions by the CID, the Attorney General advised that Shamindra Rajapaksa be named as a suspect, leading to the court’s order for his arrest.