Sri Lanka seeks to recover Rs. 3.5 Billion in VAT from imprisoned Arjun Aloysius

The Sri Lanka Government is taking steps to recover defaulted tax money from Arjun Aloysius, the Director of W.M. Mendis and Company Ltd.

Aloysius was sentenced to six months in prison for failing to pay a VAT amount of Rs. 3.5 billion.

This announcement was made today (October 15) by Cabinet Spokesman Minister Vijitha Herath during the weekly briefing on Cabinet decisions.

Herath explained that although Aloysius is serving his prison sentence, the government still needs to recover the Rs. 3.5 billion in tax money that is owed. “We need to intervene to recover that tax money as well. The government hopes to take action to recover the Rs. 3.5 billion tax money,” he stated.

On October 14, 2024, the Colombo Magistrate’s Court sentenced Aloysius and two other individuals to six months in prison for VAT evasion amounting to Rs. 3.5 billion owed to the Sri Lankan government from 2016 to 2019.

The case was prosecuted by the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) of Sri Lanka.