Tackling Corruption? Yes. But Watch the Red Lights Flashing

Cambridge gossip on Sri Lanka’s bold talk at the world’s economic crime symposium

Cambridge, UK — The grand halls of Cambridge University are used to polite debates on Aristotle and Adam Smith. But when Sri Lanka’s Asanga Abeyagoonasekera took the stage at the 42nd International Symposium on Economic Crime, the gossip in the corridors was that he wasn’t here for academic niceties. He came swinging, with a message Colombo insiders are still digesting.

Arrests galore — but is it real?

Abeyagoonasekera reeled off the numbers: nearly sixty politicians, officials, and “associates” nabbed in just six months. A former president (Ranil Wickremesinghe, no less) dragged into the dock. “No one, not even a president, is above the law,” he thundered. On paper, it sounded like a revolution. But the gossip whispered over tea was sharper: “Sixty down… and how many sacred cows untouched?”

Cross-border sting or global stage-play?

The capture of underworld bosses in Indonesia drew applause — Colombo and Jakarta police working hand in hand. Yet one cynical delegate leaned over and quipped: “Catch them abroad, parade them at home — it looks good for the cameras.”

Red lights on the grey economy

Then came the shadow play: casinos, online betting dens, digital money laundering. Abeyagoonasekera warned these could turn into pipelines for drugs, terror funds, and political war chests. But here’s the gossip line: “Casinos? You mean the very same ones with friends in high places, flashing neon lights while the regulators look the other way?”

Borrowed ideas, borrowed time

The UK’s Unexplained Wealth Orders (UWOs) were floated as a cure — forcing tycoons to explain how they bought their Bentleys. Delegates nodded, but some chuckled: “UWOs in Sri Lanka? Half of Colombo’s property market would collapse overnight.”

IMF’s shadow in the room

The biggest red light? Resources. The IMF told Sri Lanka to set up an independent prosecution office. Nice idea, but Abeyagoonasekera admitted it needs global cash to survive. One gossiping academic summed it up: “Without money, all this Cambridge talk is just theatre — back home, the files will gather dust again.”

The takeaway whisper

Abeyagoonasekera’s Cambridge keynote painted Sri Lanka as suddenly brave, clean, and accountable. But the gossip swirl around the King’s College bar that evening was blunt: “Yes, the arrests are real. Yes, the speeches are fiery. But the red lights are still flashing — casinos, cronies, cash cows. Until those are touched, corruption in Colombo is less a crime story, more a catwalk.”