Suspended Finance Ministry officer dies by suicide amid USD 2.5 Million probe

An official of Sri Lanka’s External Resources Department, who was suspended over a USD 2.5 million cyber fraud linked to a debt repayment, has been found dead in Kuliyapitiya.

Police said the deceased was 50-year-old Ranga Nishantha, who served as an Assistant Director of the External Resources Department (ERD) of the Ministry of Finance.

He was found dead behind his house in the Kuliyapitiya area. Police suspect that he may have died by suicide.

Ranga Nishantha was among four senior Finance Ministry officials suspended in late April 2026, pending a disciplinary inquiry into the alleged cyber fraud.

The fraud involved the diversion of nearly USD 2.5 million that had been set aside for a foreign loan repayment to an Australian government institution.

According to details presented before the Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court on April 28, 2026, investigators said the money had allegedly been transferred to a fake account after officials acted on an email sent from a fraudulent domain.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) informed the court that the correct email domain, “exportfinance.gov.au”, had allegedly been changed to “exportfinance.av.com” in the fraudulent communication.

The CID also told the court that the payment had been made even after warning emails were sent to the Public Debt Management Office (PDMO) by the company responsible for maintaining the government email system.

The suspended senior officers included a Director and an Assistant Director from the External Resources Department, along with a Director and an Additional Director General from the Public Debt Management Office (PDMO).

Earlier, the Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court imposed overseas travel bans on five officials who had directly handled the email-based transactions linked to the payment.

The court also ordered the heads of the relevant banks to provide the CID with details of the bank accounts of those five officials.

The CID said a complaint regarding the incident was received on March 24, 2026, and that investigations are being carried out under the Public Property Act, the Computer Crimes Act, and the Penal Code of Sri Lanka.

Investigators have also sought assistance from INTERPOL and the Australian Federal Police, while a committee of computer experts is expected to assist the probe.

The CID had earlier informed Ranga Nishantha on two occasions to appear before investigators to record a statement regarding the fraud. However, he had failed to appear on both occasions.

Ranga Nishantha was also an old boy of Kuliyapitiya Central College and an alumnus of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura.

Kuliyapitiya Police are conducting further investigations into his death.

The fraud case is scheduled to be called again before court on June 3, 2026.

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