The General Treasury’s report on the diversion of US$2.5 million originally due to be paid to an Australian creditor has been formally submitted to Parliament’s Committee on Public Finance (CoPF), Ada Derana and Newswire reported on Thursday, ending a procedural standoff that began two days earlier when the committee chair refused to accept the document at his private residence.
CoPF Chairman Harsha de Silva told committee members on Thursday (4 June) that the report had been distributed for review and that the committee would examine its contents before holding discussions with Secretary to the Treasury K.M. Mahinda Siriwardana next week, Newswire reported.
The report concerns the fraudulent redirection of a Treasury debt repayment that was meant to settle a sovereign obligation to an Australian counterparty but was rerouted to a third party, in what officials have publicly characterised as a cyber-fraud incident. Dr. de Silva has previously questioned that framing and challenged whether the breach amounts to a technical default on Sri Lanka’s external obligations.
The Thursday delivery follows Dr. de Silva’s public refusal on 2 June to accept the report when it arrived at his home marked “for personal perusal only.” He said at the time that the report had been requested by the CoPF in its constitutional oversight role, not by him in a private capacity, and ordered it returned to be re-submitted to Parliament through the proper channels. The Finance Ministry had been given four weeks to produce the document.
The Treasury cyber-fraud probe is one of the most consequential parliamentary oversight cases of the year, originating in the diversion of a foreign-debt repayment by fraudulent email instructions and progressing through CID arrests, an Australian Export Finance Agency confirmation, and repeated CoPF summonses of the Treasury Secretary. The committee’s next session with Mr. Siriwardana, expected next week, will be the first formal examination of the official account against the document itself.
Update — June 8: The CoPF was scheduled to meet under Dr. de Silva’s chairmanship on Monday afternoon (8 June) to formally examine the Treasury report on the US$2.5 million diversion, Ada Derana reported. Finance Ministry Secretary Dr. Harshana Suriyapperuma and Central Bank Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe were summoned to appear before the committee at the same session — the first time both the Treasury and the CBSL leadership are being questioned together on the cyber-fraud incident. NewsFirst, confirming the 3 p.m. start at the Parliamentary Complex, said the Treasury would submit its written report to the committee on Monday following recommendations made at the previous session on 30 May.
Update — June 8 (session held): Ada Derana reported that the CoPF formally met at the Parliament complex at around 3:00 p.m. on Monday and discussed the reports submitted by the Secretary to the Treasury on the US$2.5 million payment to a third party. The committee subsequently directed that Dr. Suriyapperuma and Dr. Weerasinghe be summoned to appear before it on the matter. Dr. de Silva told the session that the Treasury report had been submitted to Parliament last week and circulated among committee members ahead of the meeting. The directive to summon both the Finance Secretary and the CBSL Governor is the first post-session confirmation of the questioning track now formally before the committee.
Update — June 15: Follow-up committee meeting, parliamentary report planned
The CoPF was scheduled to meet again on Monday afternoon (15 June) at 2:00 p.m. under Dr. de Silva’s chairmanship to continue its review of the Treasury cyber-theft case, NewsFirst reported. At the previous session the committee had instructed the Treasury to submit a more detailed report on the incident. Dr. de Silva is also expected to present a comprehensive report on the matter to Parliament in the future, the broadcaster said — the first formal indication that the committee’s findings will be tabled in the House.
Update — June 20: Auditor General opens separate audit
Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning Dr. Anil Jayantha Fernando said on Saturday that a full report on the funds stolen from the Treasury has been submitted to the Auditor General, opening a new institutional track in the cyber-theft probe alongside the CoPF, CID and Attorney General’s Department processes already under way, NewsFirst reported. The investigation is being carried out “with maximum transparency” in coordination with the Colombo Commercial High Court, Parliament, the CID and the Attorney General’s Department, he said. The Auditor General’s Department separately confirmed that it has initiated its own audit of the incident in which cybercriminals siphoned US$2.5 million from the General Treasury — the first formal supreme-audit-institution scrutiny of the breach.
Sources: Ada Derana — CoPF receives Treasury report, Newswire — Report on US$2.5 million Treasury payment to be reviewed by CoPF, Ada Derana — CoPF to examine Treasury report today, NewsFirst — COPF to review Treasury cyber theft today, Ada Derana — CoPF summons Treasury Secretary, CBSL Governor over US$2.5 cyber heist probe, NewsFirst — COPF to meet over Treasury cyber theft case and NewsFirst — Audit Begins Into $2.5 Million Cyber Theft From Sri Lanka Treasury.
