Red warrant for Chamal's younger son Shameendra over Airbus fraud

Open warrants have been issued by Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama against Shamindra Rajapaksa, son of former Minister Chamal Rajapaksa, and Priyanga Neomali, wife of former SriLankan Airlines CEO Kapila Chandrasena, who are accused in connection with the incident of receiving a two million US dollar bribe from a European company related to a deal to purchase ten aircraft for SriLankan Airlines in 2013.

The Bribery Commission has stated that this bribe money was obtained by establishing a fake company in Brunei, and these warrants were issued because the suspects, who are currently abroad, have continuously evaded court and investigations. The Magistrate ordered the issued warrant to be sent to the Controller General of Immigration and Emigration, and further instructed the Bribery Commission to take steps to issue international red warrants in English against these suspects, and to submit a full report to the court regarding the date and country of their departure abroad.

When this case was called, the first suspect, Kapila Chandrasena, who is currently in remand custody, was also produced before the court, and he was ordered to be further remanded until the 17th. President's Counsel Rienzie Arsecularatne, appearing for the suspect, pointed out that reporting facts six years after the commencement of this investigation in 2020 was problematic, and that the current Director General of the Bribery Commission, who was then the Fort Magistrate, had previously granted him bail. However, the Bribery Commission emphasized that according to the Anti-Corruption Act No. 23 of 2023, investigation progress should only be shown when necessary, and that granting bail to the suspect could pose a threat to his life, hence they strongly opposed it.

Meanwhile, the Bribery Commission also drew the court's attention to the circulation of a document containing information from the suspect's affidavit, which was submitted to the court, on social media, and pointed out that it posed a threat to the suspect's life. In response, the Magistrate ordered an investigation into whether the official court seal was affixed to the said social media document and to report the findings. Furthermore, Assistant Director General of the Bribery Commission, Attorney Thanuja Bandara, informed the court that statements have been recorded from a director of S.L. Agro regarding the money circulation related to this incident, and that further extensive investigations are underway concerning several bank accounts in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Sri Lanka.