National Development Bank PLC has told the Colombo Stock Exchange that Deloitte has completed its forensic review of the internal fraud at the bank and fixed the final loss at Rs. 13,639,664,684 — about Rs. 60 million more than the figure reported at the interim stage in June.

The bank said in a market filing that it had received the final report from Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP, and that the confirmed total compared with the Rs. 13,579,664,684 disclosed on 26 June after the interim report. “The incremental fraud amount of Rs. 60,000,000/- will be recognized in accordance with applicable Accounting Standards,” the bank said, according to EconomyNext. Hiru News reported the same figures from the same disclosure.

A foreign firm brought in to chase the money

The most substantive new disclosure is on recovery. NDB said it is “pursuing all avenues available to it to recover the misappropriated funds including availing the services of an expert foreign agency specializing in tracing stolen money and digital assets.”

The bank did not name that agency, and the reference to digital assets is the first public indication of the form some of the proceeds may have taken.

How the review was structured

Deloitte was commissioned in consultation with, and on the recommendations of, the Director of Bank Supervision of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, immediately after the fraud was detected. Under the terms of reference, Deloitte was required to issue its report directly to the CBSL, with the bank only copied — a structure the bank said was designed to preserve the independence of the process.

NDB said the forensic findings “generally accord with the findings identified internally,” that the matters have been reported to law enforcement and that action against the perpetrators is pending in the criminal courts. It has also begun internal action against those identified as responsible for “collusion, lack of supervision and control lapses.”

Why it matters beyond the bank

The Employees’ Provident Fund and the Employees’ Trust Fund — the captive superannuation funds of Sri Lanka’s private-sector workforce — are shareholders in NDB. When the fraud was first announced, opposition MP Ravi Karunanayake raised central bank supervision of the bank in Parliament, pointing out that a substantial share of private-sector retirement savings is tied to NDB’s market value. The stock fell sharply on the CSE after the disclosure, and both outlets note the hit to funds that could otherwise have supported dividends.

NDB said no customer has lost money, balances remain intact, and the bank remains well capitalised with sound liquidity. It added that it does not treat the forensic report as “the closure of this chapter,” calling the episode “a lesson well learnt.”

The bank has separately appointed KPMG as external auditor for 2026, replacing EY, and one independent non-executive director, Shanil Fernando, stepped down from the board after the fraud was exposed.

Neither disclosure explains what accounts for the Rs. 60 million increase between the interim and final figures.