The Colombo High Court has fixed the money laundering case against Yoshitha Rajapaksa and Daisy Forrest for a pre-trial conference on November 3, the Daily Mirror reported on Monday.
The Attorney General brought the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, alleging that the two deposited nearly Rs. 57 million of unlawfully acquired funds into three bank accounts.
In court on Monday
Yoshitha Rajapaksa, son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, appeared before the court when the case was taken up. The second accused was not present; President’s Counsel Anil Silva, appearing on her behalf, submitted a medical report explaining the absence.
The judge fixed the pre-trial conference after considering the submissions made, Newswire reported.
The case was taken up before High Court Judge Rashmi Singappuli, NewsFirst reported. Neither the Daily Mirror nor Newswire named the bench.
Why the date was fixed now
Senior State Counsel Oswald Perera, appearing for the Attorney General, told the court that the revision application the first accused had filed before the Supreme Court was withdrawn by the petitioner himself — a step LankaNewz reported on September 7. With that obstacle removed, he asked the court to fix a pre-trial date after the prosecution files an amended indictment.
The judge fixed November 3 after hearing both parties.
The charges
NewsFirst sets out the allegation in more detail than the other accounts. The Attorney General has filed three charges, alleging the pair deposited funds that investigators say could not be explained by lawful earnings into fixed deposits held through three private bank accounts, between March 31, 2009 and December 12, 2013.
The amount does not match across outlets
The three reports give two different figures for the sum allegedly laundered. The Daily Mirror puts it at nearly Rs. 57 million; NewsFirst says more than Rs. 59 million, and uses that figure in its headline. Both are framed as approximations of the same deposits in the same case, and no outlet accounts for the roughly Rs. 2 million difference. LankaNewz has not been able to establish which figure matches the indictment.
A note on the second accused
Accounts also differ on how the second accused is related to Yoshitha Rajapaksa. Newswire names her Daisy Forrest Wickremesinghe and describes her as his grand-aunt; NewsFirst calls her his grandmother. The Daily Mirror gives no relationship. LankaNewz has not independently established which is correct.
Case history
The indictment against the pair was filed in April 2025. The Court of Appeal rejected Yoshitha Rajapaksa’s revision application in the money laundering case on 4 July 2026, clearing the way for the High Court proceedings to continue.
The case is separate from the CIABOC bribery case over Yoshitha Rajapaksa’s Royal Naval College training, in which he is co-accused with former Navy Commander Admiral of the Fleet Wasantha Karannagoda. That case was fixed for its own pre-trial conference on October 13 earlier this month.
