Sri Lanka’s former finance minister Ravi Karunanayake has been arrested over allegations that state funds were used to pay three people who instead worked for him privately, the country’s anti-corruption commission said Monday.
Karunanayake was taken into custody by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) after undergoing lengthy questioning.
A CIABOC official said the former minister had arranged for the National Lotteries Board to pay the salaries of three employees who allegedly performed private work for him.
Karunanayake served in the administration of former President Ranil Wickremesinghe. His arrest comes as President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s government intensifies its campaign against corruption involving former political leaders.
Earlier this month, former minister Keheliya Rambukwella was arrested over allegations that he helped facilitate the theft of a centuries-old sacred rock from the palace of Sri Lanka’s last Sinhala king.
Rambukwella was serving as health minister when Sri Lanka defaulted on its $46 billion foreign debt in April 2022, triggering a severe economic crisis and shortages of essential medicines.
Meanwhile, members of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s immediate family are also facing investigations or legal proceedings over allegations including money laundering, bribery and murder.
The Rajapaksas have denied the allegations.
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