By Roy Denish.
Namal Rajapaksa Airbus investigation traces an alleged Rs. 100 million cash payment through Singapore accounts and businessman Nimal Perera.
Recent judicial developments in Sri Lanka have brought renewed scrutiny to the high-profile arrest and remand of Namal Rajapaksa over allegations that he accepted a Rs. 100 million bribe linked to the historic acquisition of Airbus aircraft.
According to investigative findings, the alleged corruption scheme involved complex international financial transactions, beginning with a payment of nearly US$2 million transferred on December 27, 2013, from EADS France SAS through Natixis Bank to a Standard Chartered Bank account in Singapore held by Priyanka Neomali Wijenayake, the wife of former SriLankan Airlines Executive Director Kapila Chandrasena.
Portions of these funds were subsequently allegedly transferred through Nations Trust Bank to entities connected to Shamindra Rajapaksa, while a sum of US$800,000 was transferred in two instalments in October and December 2014 to an OCBC Bank account in Singapore belonging to Vision Holdings Private Limited, managed by Nimal Perera.
Between 2015 and 2017, Nimal Perera allegedly converted these funds into local currency and delivered a total of Rs. 100 million to Namal Rajapaksa in several instalments at a Horton Place residence and an office on Gowers Lane. According to the investigation, these alleged transactions were supported by statements from personal driver K.M. Hemantha Kuruppu and security officer Rankothgedara Ranjith Silva.
The alleged paper trail is further supported by CID and Bribery Commission case records, forensic bank statements, PNF 0418 documentation, and email communications exchanged between March and April 2013. These reportedly included a directive sent to then-Treasury Secretary P.B. Jayasundara calling for the withdrawal of a Cabinet paper.
As scrutiny intensified, Nimal Perera reportedly sought legal advice from Sudath Perera Associates and President’s Counsel Sampath Mendis before providing a confidential statement to a magistrate.
Perera subsequently reportedly faced serious security threats and an alleged assassination plot intended to prevent him from giving evidence. He later relocated to Australia and executed a formal affidavit before lawyer Hugh Jones Perera detailing ongoing legal proceedings, international warrants, and corruption investigations.
