The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) received 3,349 complaints in the first four months of 2026 and arrested 70 individuals during the same period, including 32 state officials, NewsFirst reported.
The commission has filed legal action against 51 of the 70 people arrested, and 314 cases under bribery allegations are currently being heard in the courts, CIABOC said. Nearly Rs. 1.9 million has been recovered for the state through these prosecutions.
The disclosure provides the first publicly-reported aggregate operational snapshot of CIABOC’s Jan–Apr 2026 caseload. The arrest tally of 70 in four months represents a sustained pace compared with the higher-profile individual interdictions the agency has run this year, including the Speaker Wickramaratne probe and the Mahinda Rajapaksa Airbus court appearance. Earlier in the year the agency also warned of misleading asset declarations and reminded officials of the June 30 declaration deadline.
The state-official share of arrests — 32 of 70, or 46 percent — underscores that nearly half of CIABOC’s interdictions this year have targeted public servants rather than members of the public offering bribes. The 314 active court cases reflect the larger backlog of bribery prosecutions inherited from previous years, distinct from the 51 new prosecutions filed in 2026.
CIABOC has not published a sectoral breakdown of either the complaints received or the arrests made, and NewsFirst did not specify which agencies the 32 state officials were drawn from.
Sources: NewsFirst — More Than 3,000 Bribery Complaints Received By CIABOC In 2026, 70 Arrested.
