Travel bans imposed on five officials over USD 2.5 Million Treasury fraud case

The Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court has imposed overseas travel bans on five Public Debt Management Office officials over the alleged diversion of nearly USD 2.5 million in Treasury funds.

The order was issued yesterday (April 28) by Fort Magistrate Isuru Neththikumara after the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) presented facts before court regarding the ongoing investigation.

The case is linked to a foreign loan repayment made by the Treasury to an Australian government institution. Investigators told court that the money was allegedly transferred to a fake account after officials acted on an email sent from a fraudulent domain.

According to the CID, the correct email domain, “exportfinance.gov.au”, had been changed to “exportfinance.av.com” in the fraudulent communication.

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

The Computer Crimes Division of the CID said a complaint regarding the incident was received on March 24, 2026, and that investigations began based on that complaint.

The Magistrate ordered the heads of the relevant banks to provide the CID with details of the bank accounts of the five officials who directly handled the email-based transactions linked to the payment.

The Magistrate also ordered the Court Registrar to inform the Controller General of Immigration and Emigration about the overseas travel bans imposed on the five officials.

The CID told court that no conclusive evidence has so far been found to show unauthorized access to the email system. However, investigators said technical analysis is continuing, including the examination of server logs with the support of a local IT service provider.

The court was also informed that investigators are looking into whether computer systems in both Sri Lanka and Australia may have been compromised. Assistance has been sought from INTERPOL and the Australian Federal Police.

The CID said investigations are being carried out under the Public Property Act, the Computer Crimes Act, and the Penal Code of Sri Lanka.

The Magistrate granted permission to appoint a committee of computer experts to assist the investigation. The CID said the committee would include officials from the Government Analyst’s Department, Sri Lanka CERT, and the Computer Science Division of the University of Colombo.

Accordingly, the Magistrate ordered the Dean of the Computer Science Division of the University of Colombo, the Government Analyst, and the head of Sri Lanka CERT to appoint officials to assist the investigation.

As the investigation is sensitive and complex, the Magistrate also ordered that the case file be kept in a safe.

The Magistrate further ordered the Public Debt Management Office to take immediate short-term measures to prevent similar incidents from happening again.

The Magistrate instructed investigators to first establish whether a criminal offence had taken place, identify those responsible if a crime had been committed, and report facts to court without delay.

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

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