Parliament’s Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) has told the Department of Posts to prioritise and speed up investigations into serious financial fraud, after reviewing cases stretching back more than two decades.
The committee examined the progress of investigations into financial frauds and disciplinary violations at the Postal Department covering the years 2004 to 2025, Hiru News reported. COPA met in Parliament on August 20 under its chairman, MP Kabir Hashim, to review the department’s current performance and how far it had gone in implementing recommendations the committee issued on April 7.
Resources going to minor cases
The committee’s central criticism was one of sequencing. Members said the department should prioritise and expedite investigations into significant financial frauds and serious disciplinary violations rather than conducting lengthy inquiries and spending resources on minor matters.
COPA also heard a set of reasons why cases have stalled. Some investigations have not been completed for years. In certain cases the accused have disappeared or died. Others have been held up by delays in initiating legal action. The committee was also told the department’s investigation division is short of staff.
The committee pressed for investigations and disciplinary action against officers accused of financial fraud to be completed within a specified timeframe, and issued instructions to speed up the steps needed to conclude inquiries and recover losses from those found responsible.
Overtime under review
Separately, officials told the committee that work is under way to streamline the management of overtime allowances at the department. A work study conducted by the Department of Management Services covered all nine provinces and the Central Mail Exchange, and officials said steps would be taken to introduce an optimal staff number on the basis of its findings.
Hiru News did not identify any individual fraud case by name, give a figure for the total sums involved, or say how many investigations remain open.
The Postal Department has faced scrutiny on separate fronts this year. In April the CID began investigating a missing payment of about US$625,000 owed by Sri Lanka Post to the United States Postal Service.
As of Tuesday afternoon, no other verified Sri Lankan newsroom had published its own report of the committee’s proceedings.
