An investigation has begun into the disappearance of Rs. 2.1 million from the Weligama Main Post Office, uncovered during the office’s annual audit, Postal Department sources say.
The money is said to have gone missing gradually rather than in a single incident — cash that should have been banked was instead misused over a period of time, according to those sources.
How the cash controls are meant to work
The Weligama Main Post Office handles local and foreign mail exchange, cargo transport, traffic fine payments, elderly allowances, stamp facilities and money transfers. Seventeen sub-post offices spread across surrounding rural areas operate under it.
Daily income across that network exceeds Rs. 3 million to Rs. 4 million, the sources said.
Receipts and expenses must be recorded daily, and the maximum the main post office is permitted to hold on its premises is Rs. 250,000. Everything above that ceiling is required to be deposited in the bank the same day — the control that the missing sum appears to have bypassed.
Contacted by telephone, the current Weligama postmaster said information could not be provided without authorisation.
A recurring problem
The case adds to a run of financial irregularities at Sri Lanka Post. In August, Parliament’s Committee on Public Accounts pressed the Postal Department to complete fraud investigations dating back to 2004, noting that some of those accused had died during the delays.
Separately, the CID has been investigating a missing USD 625,000 payment owed by Sri Lanka Post to the US Postal Service.
No arrests have been reported in the Weligama case, and the Postal Department has not issued a public statement on the audit finding.
