The Colombo High Court was told on 15 October that Yoshitha Rajapaksa received a total of Rs. 5,150,626 in salaries and allowances across ten years of service in the Sri Lanka Navy, the Daily Mirror reported.

The evidence was led in the money laundering trial against the son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, before High Court Judge Udesh Ranatunga, with Senior State Counsel Oswald Perera questioning for the prosecution.

What the witnesses said

Navy officer Dhammika Priyadarshana Wickramaarachchi said Yoshitha Rajapaksa served as a Lieutenant from 14 February 2006 to 28 February 2016, when his service was terminated, on a monthly salary of Rs. 16,390 — Rs. 16,500 including allowances, less a Rs. 110 deduction. A second officer, Nuwan Thushara, gave the Rs. 5,150,626 total for that same period.

A third officer, Devinda Udayakumara, testified that asset and liability declarations had been filed with the Navy covering 31 March 2009 to 31 March 2015.

National Savings Bank officer Kanishka Gamini said a fixed deposit opened on 10 November 2003 with Rs. 72,470.03 had grown to Rs. 489,411.70 with interest, and that no withdrawals were made from the savings account until 2 March 2016, despite deposits arriving from January 2007 onwards. President’s Counsel Sampath Mendis, for the accused, objected that the document put to the witness had neither been examined during the investigation nor filed with the indictment.

A Nugegoda District Court clerk testified to a 15 March 2017 order by then District Judge Sahan Mapa over the estate of Daisy Forrest — Yoshitha Rajapaksa’s grandmother and formerly the second accused, released from this case after medical reports found her unfit to stand trial. The witness said the record contained no note that the court had satisfied itself as to her medical condition — cited as dementia and Alzheimer’s — and no inventory of her movable or immovable property.

Businessman Mervyn Amarawera described helping clear an outside-broadcast truck imported for the CSN television channel through Customs at the request of Rohan Weliwita, saying he did not know the goods’ value and knew of no link between Weliwita and CSN.

The arithmetic does not close

Rs. 16,390 a month across the 120 months the witnesses describe comes to about Rs. 1.97 million — roughly 38% of the Rs. 5,150,626 total put to the court. Neither filing itemises the remaining Rs. 3.18 million. The Daily Mirror records only that gross pay comprised basic salary plus allowances; the Tamil Guardian adds that the monthly figure excluded payments for overseas training and for representing the Navy in sport. No witness is reported as breaking the balance down.

The comparison that matters to the charge is of a different order. The case concerns property acquired in 2012–2013 worth around Rs. 73.5 million — roughly fourteen times the entire decade of naval pay recorded above.

Figures that do not reconcile across outlets

Two accounts of the same hearing diverge on points that carry weight, and this desk does not merge them.

The value of the property. The Daily Mirror’s closing paragraph puts the five plots in Dehiwala and Ratmalana at “more than Rs. 730 million.” The Tamil Guardian says “nearly Rs 73.5 million,” and our own August report, sourced to NewsFirst, says “more than Rs. 73 million.” Two independent accounts and our archive agree on roughly Rs. 73 million; the Daily Mirror’s figure is ten times larger and appears to carry a stray zero. This article uses Rs. 73.5 million.

The UK training request. Both outlets report that Karannagoda, as Navy Commander, wrote seeking state funds for Yoshitha Rajapaksa to attend the Royal Navy Young Officers’ Course. They agree on nothing else about it. The Daily Mirror dates the letter to 18 May 2004, addressed to the Defence Minister, seeking £4,174.80 for food and accommodation plus Rs. 20,362 in course fees. The Tamil Guardian dates it to 19 May 2014, addressed to the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, and puts the sum at £24,536 — the figure in its headline, which does not appear in the Daily Mirror’s account at all.

The 2004 date is the coherent one: the course ran from September 2006 to June 2007, so a 2014 letter would postdate it by seven years. The Daily Mirror also carries a Colombo dateline and names its witnesses; the Tamil Guardian sources the letter detail to a Newswire report rather than its own court reporting. Readers should treat the £24,536 figure as unconfirmed.

The service dates. The Daily Mirror’s 14 February 2006 to 28 February 2016 is exactly 10.0 years, matching the “ten years” both outlets use. The Tamil Guardian’s December 2006 to February 2017 is 10.25 years and describes the service as suspended rather than terminated.

Next date

Judge Ranatunga fixed 30 October for the further trial and directed the remaining prosecution witnesses to attend. The Tamil Guardian puts the number at 11.

Not reported

Neither filing explains the Rs. 3.18 million gap between the stated monthly salary and the stated total, nor whether the court ruled on Sampath Mendis’s objection to the bank document. Neither says what the CSN outside-broadcast truck or the Daisy Forrest estate order is alleged to establish, or how either connects to the five plots at the centre of the indictment. Ada Derana carried a filing on a postponement in this case that could not be retrieved — the outlet’s block on this desk is now in its fourth week — so whether a further procedural step followed the 15 October sitting is unconfirmed here.

Sources: Daily Mirror, Tamil Guardian.