A comedy of bureaucracy — the man at the centre of Sri Lanka’s biggest financial scandal remains out of reach, thanks to a missing report that no one seems to have time to write.
Sri Lanka’s attempts to bring back former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran from Singapore have hit yet another bureaucratic wall. Police Media Spokesperson ASP F.U. Wootler said the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has still not submitted its long-awaited report, a crucial step in the extradition process. Until that document materialises, Mahendran, wanted for his alleged role in the 2015 Central Bank bond scam, remains comfortably abroad.
The delay is particularly embarrassing because the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court had already issued a notice to Mahendran on August 23, instructing him to appear before court on September 26. The notice followed a request by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption, which has filed a case under the Anti-Corruption Act. Yet despite these legal steps, the actual process appears frozen in paperwork.
ASP Wootler told reporters that the police are “awaiting the CID report” and declined to provide a timeline. He promised that the media would be informed once the report arrives, a phrase now almost traditional in Sri Lankan investigations. He also rejected accusations that the police were inactive, insisting they are “determined to expedite” the process.
The former Central Bank Governor is accused of orchestrating a controversial bond auction on 27 February 2015, during which Perpetual Treasuries, owned by his nephew, Arjun Aloysius, allegedly caused losses of more than Rs 10 billion to the government. Nearly a decade later, the case continues to crawl, with no sign of Mahendran returning to face justice.
Critics say the situation illustrates a familiar pattern: high-profile financial crimes that fade into administrative limbo. As long as reports remain “awaited,” fugitives like Mahendran remain free and the nation keeps waiting too.
