Postal Department fraud probe reveals $626,755 meant for US Post was allegedly diverted through fake emails, CID tells Fort Magistrate.
Postal Department fraud involving more than $626,755 has been revealed before the Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court, after the Criminal Investigation Department informed court today (06) that money due to the United States Postal Service had allegedly been diverted to an unknown third party.
CID officials told Colombo Fort Magistrate Pasanna Amarasekera that the financial fraud had taken place through information received from three fraudulent email addresses. The investigation relates to a major foreign payment that had not reached the proper recipient.
According to the CID, the Sri Lanka Postal Department was expected to make payments to the United States Postal Service, also known as US Post. However, the funds were allegedly redirected based on deceptive email communications.
Investigation officers pointed out that the Universal Postal Union provides official email and account details for payments connected to global postal operations. But in this questionable transaction, communications had reportedly taken place through an email address outside the official channel.
The court was informed that nine fraudulent email messages had been received since June 2023, claiming that a payment due to the US Postal Service had not been received.
The Postal Department had responded to three of those messages, according to the information presented in court.
As a result, a total of $626,755 was allegedly diverted to an unknown third party on two separate occasions. The first transfer amounted to $435,864 on February 19, 2025. The second transfer amounted to $190,891 on October 16 of the same year.
Responding to a question raised by the Magistrate, CID officials said it had not yet been revealed to which specific person or party the funds had been diverted.
They also stated that no suspect had so far been identified in connection with the incident.
Preliminary investigations have revealed that criminal offenses under the Penal Code, the Computer Crimes Act, and the Public Property Act had occurred in this matter.
Accordingly, the court granted permission for the Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Response Team to carry out an on-site inspection of the Postal Department’s email system.
The case has been scheduled to be taken up again on July 22, when further reports regarding the incident are expected to be submitted to court.
