Senior Justice Ministry official arrested over bribery and misuse of public funds

The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) today (October 8) arrested Rajapaksa Pathirage Sepalika Saman Kumari, a senior public official currently serving as the Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Justice and National Integration.

She was arrested at around 9:20 AM on charges of aiding and abetting offences under the Bribery Act and the Offences Against Public Property Act.

The case is linked to an incident involving former Monaragala District Member of Parliament Shasheendra Rajapaksa. The property at the centre of the case is said to belong to the Sri Lanka Mahaweli Authority, a state institution.

A special committee appointed by the Cabinet of Ministers on May 22, 2022, and the Board of Directors of the Office for Reparations on November 1, 2023, had both rejected in writing a proposal to pay compensation for the property.

However, on November 27, 2023, in her capacity as Acting Director General of the Office for Reparations, Sepalika Saman Kumari informed Minister Shasheendra Rajapaksa in writing. Later, after receiving a reply from the Minister on December 26, 2023, and acting upon that letter without the proper approval of the Board of Directors, she sent another letter on January 22, 2024, to the Director General of the Sri Lanka Mahaweli Authority seeking consent to provide financial relief to Manoji Hemalal Ekanayake.

Subsequently, on January 26, 2024, a payment of Rs. 8,850,000 (eight million eight hundred and fifty thousand rupees) was authorized based on her approval.

CIABOC alleges that by influencing officials of the Office for Reparations to approve this payment, she aided and abetted acts of corruption and the misuse of public property.

The suspect, Rajapaksa Pathirage Sepalika Saman Kumari, was taken into custody this morning and is scheduled to be produced before the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court later today.

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UPDATE – 04:48 PM:

Former Acting Director General of the Office for Reparations and current Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Justice and National Integration, Rajapaksa Pathirage Sepalika Saman Kumari, has been granted bail after being produced before the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court