SJB member and former Western Provincial Councillor Niroshan Padukka has alleged that insider information on a recent vehicle import tax decision was leaked to select businessmen before the official extraordinary gazette was issued, allowing 4,000 brand-new vehicle import Letters of Credit (LCs) to be opened at the old rate within a single day.

Speaking to reporters outside the Central Bank of Sri Lanka on Tuesday, Padukka said the extraordinary gazette issued by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on May 15 imposed a 50 percent surcharge on vehicle imports but exempted vehicles for which LCs had been opened on or before that day.

“The President writes the letter on the 15th and issues the extraordinary gazette. But the problem is, how did two prominent businessmen in this country know this beforehand?” Padukka asked. According to him, one businessman arranged imports for 3,500 vehicles and another for 500 vehicles — 4,000 brand-new units in total — all under the previous tax rate.

Padukka claimed more than Rs.40 billion worth of LCs were opened on Friday alone, calling the surge “the reason the rupee was devalued” and putting the question directly: “Is this not a scam? Is this not insider trading? Is this not a robbery bigger than the Treasury scam?”

He pointed to the trajectory of the dollar in the same window: from Rs.323 on Friday to Rs.334 by Monday evening, an 11-rupee move that he said triggered his investigation. “When the dollar rises by 11 rupees, we become suspicious. When we checked, Letters of Credit had been opened for 4,000 vehicles,” he said, alleging that the state lost more than Rs.20 billion in potential tax revenue as a result.

Padukka said he had visited the Central Bank to seek details on how the LCs were approved and questioned why authorities had not monitored or halted the transactions. The People’s Bank published Rs.340.67 selling rate on Monday — a record for the post-restructuring period — and SJB MP Sujeewa Senasinghe has predicted further deterioration to Rs.360 within five months.

The allegations link the 50% vehicle import surcharge gazette directly to the dollar surge for the first time in formal opposition framing. Neither the Presidential Secretariat nor the Central Bank has issued an immediate response.