Shiranthi flees to Singapore a week before FCID summons.

Shiranthi Rajapaksa, the wife of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, has departed for Singapore this morning (16), despite being scheduled to appear before the Financial Crimes Investigation Division on the 24th. She left the island via Katunayake International Airport at 1:10 AM today on Singapore Airlines flight SQ-469, accompanied by Anne de Livera, the aunt of Mr. Rohitha Rajapaksa.

Sources state that she has gone abroad for an emergency surgery, and due to a sudden illness yesterday (15), she was admitted to a private hospital in Colombo. Previously, after undergoing an emergency heart surgery at a private hospital in Colombo, doctors had recommended several weeks of complete bed rest for her, and due to that illness, the police had postponed recording her statement.

The Attorney General had instructed the Police Financial Crimes Investigation Division to obtain a statement from Shiranthi Rajapaksa regarding alleged financial irregularities in the fund account of the 'Siriliya Saviya' organization, which operated under her patronage. This departure abroad occurred amidst her being scheduled to be summoned before the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption.

According to these investigations, there are allegations that one crore rupees obtained from the National Savings Bank for the purchase of a CT scanner for Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children in Colombo was misused by crediting it to the Siriliya Saviya fund account. It was revealed during questioning of bank officials that while the said scanner was provided free of charge by the Chinese government, the money obtained from the bank was transferred to accounts maintained at the Maradana and Suduwella branches based on a written request from the organization and used for other purposes.

Investigations into the irregularities of this account, which was maintained during the tenure of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, were initiated during the good governance government. Investigations are ongoing under the direction of a senior police officer to determine what happened to this 10 million rupees, and Shiranthi Rajapaksa has previously been questioned for over four hours regarding this incident.