$2.5 million fraud was a Central Bank technical issue, Sunil Watagala says, rejecting claims of political oversight or government involvement.
The $2.5 million fraud linked to the Central Bank was not caused by political authority, Deputy Minister Sunil Watagala said, insisting that the incident arose from a technical and administrative issue involving officials.
Watagala stated that the government had no direct connection to the misappropriation and rejected attempts to portray the matter as a failure of President Anura Dissanayake or the political leadership. His remarks come as public concern grows over the missing funds and the wider questions surrounding financial oversight, official responsibility, and institutional accountability.
“This incident is not a story that happened within the political authority. This is an example similar to saying that when a principal runs a school, the Education Minister is directly involved in an incident that occurs in a classroom,” Watagala said.
He said the matter should be understood as an incident that occurred within the Central Bank due to technical administrative matters, rather than as a case of political interference or political negligence.
According to Watagala, the government intervened as soon as it became aware of the incident. He said instructions had been given and an investigation process is now underway to determine how the funds were misappropriated and who may have been responsible.
“President Anura Dissanayake does not come and work at the Central Bank. The Secretary has intervened. What is currently emerging is that this is a technical issue that occurred due to officials,” he said.
However, questions remain over how such a major sum could be misdirected or lost within a key financial institution. The $2.5 million fraud has already triggered public debate over whether internal systems, verification procedures, and official safeguards were strong enough to prevent such an incident.
Watagala also defended the Finance Secretary, saying he is someone with experience in both local and international institutions and had also engaged in politics with them. He said the government had an understanding of his knowledge and trusted that he would carry out his responsibilities properly.
“The Finance Secretary is someone who has experience working in local and international institutions and also engaged in politics with us. We have an understanding of his knowledge. The President trusted that he would carry out this responsibility,” Watagala said.
He rejected claims that the $2.5 million was lost due to the Secretary’s incompetence. According to him, such allegations were unfair when investigations are still underway and the matter currently appears to be linked to technical issues involving officials.
“If anyone alleges that the $2.5 million was lost due to the Secretary’s incompetence, I reject that,” he said.
Watagala further revealed that a sum sent to America has also gone missing, and investigations are now being carried out into that matter as well. This raises concerns about whether the current issue is part of a wider pattern of technical, administrative, or procedural failures within financial transactions.
He stressed that none of these incidents were the result of political oversight. At the same time, he said the government was not making these statements merely to escape responsibility, but to clarify where the incident had occurred and how it was being handled.
“We are not saying this to absolve ourselves of responsibility,” Watagala said.
What happens next could be critical, as investigators now face the task of determining whether the $2.5 million fraud was caused by technical failure, official error, weak internal controls, or deeper institutional lapses that demand urgent correction.
