The Free Lawyers Organisation has accused the Parliamentary Committee on Public Finance (COPF) of attempting to protect the real culprits behind the $2.5 million cyber theft involving the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and the Treasury, alleging that the panel’s eight-page report places responsibility on lower-level officers and computer systems while shielding senior officials.
In a statement, the organisation said the committee had failed to fulfil its statutory responsibilities under Standing Order 121, describing the report as “a mere compilation of facts rather than a substantive investigation.” It also criticised the committee for granting around one month of additional time to those linked to the alleged irregularities, claiming this allowed them to conceal wrongdoing and prepare documentation. Even after 30 days, the organisation said, the Central Bank’s administration has remained silent on the matter — a silence it attributed to the committee’s effort to protect the institution’s image.
The statement traces the heist to the operation of three separate and uncoordinated computer systems within the Treasury, the External Resources Department and Public Debt Management. The organisation also questioned the role of Treasury Secretary Dr. Harshana Suriyapperuma, saying proper oversight may not have been exercised under Financial Regulation 135 when delegating financial authority. Assigning responsibility for large financial transactions to a single director-level officer, it said, reflected poor administrative practice.
The organisation concluded by expressing serious concern that Parliament’s finance oversight mechanism had effectively endorsed an attempt to conceal those truly responsible.
Sunday’s broadside is the latest in an escalating sequence of Free Lawyers interventions in the heist case, which include the original COPA referral after the Speaker’s silence, a legal-action warning over the Treasury Secretary’s refusal to appear at COPF, twenty-two written questions submitted to the President, and a public call for the Treasury Secretary’s resignation. The wider accountability cycle now includes travel bans on five interdicted officials, an active CID investigation, and the FBI-assisted international probe confirmed last week.
Source: Ada Derana.
