A serious financial crimes complaint has been filed against former Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, alleging misuse of Rs. 275 million from the President’s Fund for an incomplete building project in Eppawala. The FCID is now under pressure to investigate the stalled construction and missing public funds.
Former President Maithripala Sirisena is under fire as a formal complaint was lodged with the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID), alleging the misappropriation of Rs. 275 million from the President’s Fund.
The complaint, filed by Lakshman Jayawardena, Vice Chairman of the Eppawala Cooperative Society, accuses Sirisena of diverting these public funds in 2019 for a construction project on land owned by the cooperative. The funds were intended for building a multipurpose conference hall in Eppawala, following a 2017 request from the society.
According to the complaint, construction began in January 2019, but the site’s original seven shops were demolished without compensation or recovery of lost assets, such as doors, windows, and seats — all of which reportedly went missing.
Initially, the cost estimate for the hall was Rs. 110 million. However, when the Sri Lanka Army was brought in for labor, the budget was revised to Rs. 77.3 million. The government reportedly released Rs. 25 million to begin the work, but the project now stands incomplete and abandoned.
Mr. Jayawardena claims this financial mismanagement has deprived the cooperative society of essential infrastructure, and he has urged the FCID to investigate the halted project and the disappearance of valuable assets from the site.
