The Parliamentary Committee on Public Finance (COPF) is scheduled to convene on Tuesday (April 28) to discuss the alleged theft of USD 2.5 million from the Treasury by an external party.
Committee Chair Dr. Harsha de Silva said a decision on whether to summon the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance before the committee will be made during the meeting. He made the remarks while addressing the media in Colombo.
Deputy Minister Chathuranga Abeysinghe said the government would extend its full support to the COPF investigation into the incident.
The April 28 sitting follows Dr. de Silva’s public rejection of the official “hacker” framing for the diversion of the foreign debt repayment. The COPF chair previously said he was “99% sure” the Finance Ministry’s computer network was not breached and questioned the technical default characterisation given to the committee in January.
The Treasury has confirmed that USD 2.5 million from a foreign loan repayment was diverted via a fraudulent email channel involving the Australian Export Finance Agency. Five Treasury and CBSL officials have been interdicted, and the Free Lawyers’ Association has filed 22 questions with the President demanding accountability.
Opposition voices including SJB leader Sajith Premadasa, SLPP entrepreneur Dilith Jayaweera, and former minister Faiszer Musthapha have separately called for parliamentary select committees, presidential investigations, and have publicly contested the hacker attribution.
Source: Ada Derana
