Namal Rajapaksa indicted on 24 charges over Airbus deal
Namal Rajapaksa
The Attorney General has filed an indictment containing 24 charges against Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa before the Colombo Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar in connection with the Airbus transaction.
The Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court was informed of the development today (October 27).
Deputy Solicitor General Janaka Bandara informed Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama that the indictment had been filed before the Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar, with 59 witnesses listed in the case.
The Colombo Chief Magistrate also ordered that Rajapaksa, who is currently in remand custody, be produced before the three-judge bench of the Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar on October 28, 2026.
Chief Magistrate Bodaragama further ordered that Rajapaksa remain in custody until he is produced before the High Court.
The Magistrate also directed that a report on the matter be submitted to the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court on October 30, 2026.
Rajapaksa has been held in remand custody in connection with an investigation by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) into allegations that he accepted Rs. 100 million as a bribe linked to the acquisition of wide-body Airbus aircraft for SriLankan Airlines.
He was arrested by CIABOC on September 4, 2026, after being questioned for nearly five hours. He was subsequently produced before Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama, who ordered him to be remanded.
According to CIABOC, the investigation found that EUR 1,454,651.24 in alleged bribe money had been deposited into an account maintained under the name BIZ Solutions Inc. at Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore. The company was linked to Priyanka Niyomali Wijenayake, the wife of former SriLankan Airlines Chief Executive Officer Kapila Chandrasena.
Of this amount, USD 800,000 was allegedly transferred to an account at OCBC Bank in Singapore, maintained under the name Sabre Vision Holdings Ltd., a company linked to Sri Lankan businessman Nimal Perera.
According to the prosecution, Perera stated in an affidavit that Sabre Vision Holdings Ltd. had received USD 800,000 from BIZ Solutions Inc. and that he subsequently paid Rs. 100 million in cash to Rajapaksa on several occasions during 2014 and 2015.
CIABOC has stated that its investigation was based on a statement provided by the businessman, statements obtained from Airbus officials in France, and documents and other information collected during the inquiry.
The allegations against Rajapaksa remain subject to court proceedings.
