In a major development that could send shockwaves through Sri Lanka’s political landscape, former Speaker and ex-Cabinet Minister Chamal Rajapaksa is reportedly on the brink of arrest in connection with a massive compensation fraud.
According to sources, the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) is preparing to question Rajapaksa over allegations that he fraudulently obtained Rs. 152,260,000 in public funds. The payment was made under the premise that his residence and property in Magama, Tissamaharama, were destroyed during the anti-government uprising that erupted on May 9, 2022.
However, an explosive turn in the investigation has revealed that the property in question may not even belong to Chamal Rajapaksa. Investigators have reportedly uncovered that the land is registered under another name, and that there was no house on the property only a paddy warehouse.
Despite this, Rajapaksa had submitted an affidavit claiming possession of the property, which was accepted at the time. It has now emerged that this affidavit was misleading, and authorities are scrutinising how such a colossal sum of compensation was approved based on false information.
The discrepancy first came to light when K.D.N.R. Asoka, Additional Secretary (Parliamentary Affairs Division) of the Ministry of Public Administration, officially informed the Director General of the Office for Compensation on July 27, 2023, that the payment could not proceed under his ministry’s purview, as the property did not lawfully belong to Rajapaksa.
However, shockingly, just a week earlier on July 20, 2023, an assessor from the Department of Valuation had submitted a report claiming that a house stood on the land and valued it at Rs. 14.8 million. Based on this report, Rajapaksa is alleged to have received both Rs. 222,600 for the paddy warehouse and Rs. 14.8 million for a house that did not exist.
Sources say that not only is Chamal Rajapaksa likely to be arrested, but legal proceedings are also being considered against government officials who processed the payment in violation of existing laws and administrative circulars.
The scandal has raised fresh concerns about the systemic abuse of power by high-profile political figures and the complicity of state machinery in enabling such fraud. If arrested, Chamal Rajapaksa would become the highest-ranking member of the Rajapaksa family to face direct legal accountability since the 2022 mass protests that forced Gotabaya Rajapaksa to resign from the presidency.
This case could mark a significant shift in how Sri Lanka’s justice system treats allegations of corruption—especially when it involves the country’s most powerful political dynasty.
