By Roy Denish
The Homagama High Court has issued a historic verdict regarding one of the largest criminal financial frauds recorded within Sri Lanka’s state banking system. The former chief cashier of the National Savings Bank branch in Kaduwela was sentenced to 15 years in prison after being found guilty of four main charges related to the fraudulent withdrawal of over Rs. 13.5 crore from depositors. High Court Judge Krishanthi Amaratunga initially passed down a sentence of 35 years of rigorous imprisonment, ordering it to be served concurrently over a period of 15 years. The convict was also ordered to repay the entire misappropriated sum of Rs. 135,102,975 back to the bank, with an additional four-year prison sentence mandated should he fail to make the payment.
According to evidence presented to the court by the Attorney General, this financial misappropriation occurred over a nearly one-year period between February 1, 2013, and January 10, 2014. The trial revealed that public deposits received by the bank were systematically diverted for personal use by bypassing official record-keeping procedures and taking advantage of vulnerabilities within the internal system.
Financial analysts point out that the fact such a large-scale irregularity went undetected for a prolonged period inside a state bank raises serious questions regarding the reliability of internal audits and digital monitoring systems in local financial institutions. Particularly during a period when International Monetary Fund recommendations on governance transparency and financial discipline are being implemented, strict judicial sentencing for such offenses serves as a crucial factor in reinforcing public trust in the country’s financial system.
Moving forward, the bank must expedite legal proceedings to recover the full Rs. 135 million compensation from the convicted official as ordered by the court. Furthermore, state banks face the key responsibility of strengthening dual-authorization control systems to prevent large financial transactions from ever being authorized by a single officer again.
