Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna National Organiser and Member of Parliament Namal Rajapaksa was remanded until 18 September on Friday evening, hours after his arrest by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption.

The order was made by Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama after submissions from Deputy Solicitor General Janaka Bandara, appearing for CIABOC, and Rajapaksa’s lawyers, Ada Derana reported. He was later escorted from the court into a prison bus and taken to remand prison as a large crowd of party members and supporters gathered outside.

The charge, for the first time

CIABOC issued a statement setting out the allegation — the first public account of what Rajapaksa is accused of.

The Commission alleges he accepted a bribe equivalent to Rs. 100 million in connection with SriLankan Airlines’ purchase of aircraft. According to CIABOC, a total alleged bribe payment of €1,454,651.24 was made, out of which US$800,000 was remitted to a Sri Lankan businessman through an account in the name of Biz Solutions Inc. at Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore. Those funds were then deposited into an account at OCBC Bank in Singapore held by Sabre Vision Holdings, a company owned by the same businessman, NewsFirst reported.

The Rs. 100 million equivalent was allegedly paid on several occasions during 2014 and 2015.

Investigators say the allegations rest on statements from the businessman — himself named a suspect — statements obtained from Airbus officials in France who appeared before the Commission, and documentary and electronic evidence.

NewsFirst and Hiru both describe the US$800,000 as drawn from the euro sum; the Daily Mirror phrases it as a bribe “comprised” of both figures, which would read as additive. The two accounts have not been reconciled.

How the date was fixed

NewsFirst’s fuller account also settles a discrepancy left open earlier this week. The Commission first instructed Rajapaksa to appear on 4 September; he asked instead for the 3rd, and the Commission agreed. His lawyer, Muditha R. Lokumudali, then wrote saying he could only attend on or after 25 September. The Commission rejected that, notified him by WhatsApp message that the original date stood, and warned that legal action would follow if he did not comply.

He arrived at about 9.15 a.m. and spoke briefly to reporters. “Clearly, I haven’t done anything wrong. We have no need to do anything wrong. That’s why we are ready to face any independent investigation at any time,” he said.

Update: the businessman is named, and the defence attacks his credibility

A later Daily Mirror report names the businessman at the centre of the money trail — the man the Commission’s own account leaves anonymous — and sets out the argument Rajapaksa’s lawyers made against him in court.

President’s Counsel Sampath Mendis, appearing for Rajapaksa, told the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court that his client had been arrested and produced before court solely on the basis of a statement by businessman Nimal Perera, the Daily Mirror reported.

The defence challenged Perera’s credibility, arguing that neither French officials nor officials of Airbus had said they gave money to Rajapaksa.

Mendis told the court that a separate case involving Perera — relating to the “Krrish transaction” — is being heard before the High Court, and that money in that matter had also allegedly been received into an account belonging to Sabre Vision Holding Ltd. That is the same company CIABOC places at the end of the alleged Airbus money trail, at OCBC Bank in Singapore. In the Krrish matter, counsel said, Perera had previously told investigators the account was not his but belonged to an Italian friend.

“Accordingly, Nimal Perera is saying one thing then and another thing today. In 2019, the Criminal Investigation Department did not believe what Nimal Perera had said. If so, how can Nimal Perera be believed in 2026?”

Describing this as applying a different standard when convenient, Mendis asked the court to treat the credibility issue as an exceptional circumstance and grant bail. Rajapaksa was remanded.

The Krrish thread runs separately through Rajapaksa’s own caseload: the Attorney General alleges he committed criminal breach of trust by obtaining Rs. 70 million from the India-based company on the pretext of promoting rugby, and the Colombo High Court fixed that trial to begin on 7 July. Avant-Garde chairman Nissanka Senadhipathi gave a statement to CIABOC on the Krrish deal in August.

Political reaction

The United National Party condemned the arrest, saying it appeared aimed at disrupting an SLPP rally scheduled for Anuradhapura on 12 September under Rajapaksa’s leadership.

“It is clear that the arrest of MP Rajapaksa was aimed at sabotaging the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) rally to be held at Anuradhapura on September 12. The SLPP MP has the same right to hold rallies just as President Anura Kumara Dissanayake,” the party said in a statement carried by Ada Derana and the Daily Mirror. “No one, especially the Gen Z generation of youth, will approve this kind of act.”

The wider case

The Airbus inquiry concerns SriLankan Airlines’ 2013 acquisition of six A330 and eight A350 aircraft. Former chief executive Kapila Chandrasena and his wife Priyanka Niyomali Wijenayake were accused of accepting US$2 million; Chandrasena was arrested on 12 March, bailed, and found dead on 8 May. Open warrants stand for Wijenayake and for Shamindra Rajapaksa before the Fort Magistrate’s Court.

Separately, former minister Johnston Fernando was granted bail the same evening in an unrelated CIABOC case.

Not yet reported

The Daily Mirror’s court report answers two questions left open earlier: the businessman is Nimal Perera, and bail was sought and refused at the remand hearing itself rather than deferred to a later application.

What remains unreported is whether Perera has responded to the defence’s characterisation of his evidence, and whether CIABOC will address the 2019 discrepancy the defence raised. No outlet has said what became of the Krrish-case account question, whether a fresh bail application will be made before 18 September, or whether further suspects will be arrested. The SLPP itself had issued no formal statement at the time of writing — the condemnation above came from the UNP.

Sources