Significant progress has been made in the investigation into the diversion of a USD 2.5 million foreign debt instalment from the Treasury, Deputy Minister of Digital Economy Eranga Weeraratne said on Friday, with no evidence so far of internal involvement.
The Deputy Minister said the transaction had moved through the banking system rather than outside it, and that investigators now understood “exactly what occurred”. Several rounds of discussions on the case were held at the Ministry of Finance on Thursday.
Weeraratne said the USD 2.5 million loss was the result of fabricated emails impersonating the foreign company that the payment was intended for, rather than a system intrusion. “This occurred without any internal involvement within the institution; it was caused by a failure to identify subtle differences in communication,” he said.
The framing pushes back on opposition claims that the loss cannot be blamed on hackers. Sarvajana Balaya leader Dilith Jayaweera and other opposition voices have argued the breach implies an insider failure rather than purely external fraud, and have demanded the resignation of the Finance Secretary and subject Minister.
The Deputy Minister said the investigation would take about another week to complete and verify before legal action begins. Findings to date are being kept confidential because, in cyber cases, “money moves swiftly, perpetrators can relocate, and evidence can be erased”.
Five Treasury officials were earlier interdicted pending the parliamentary inquiry into the breach, which the Australian High Commission has confirmed compromised the Australian Export Finance Agency’s email channel.
The Criminal Investigation Department on Saturday confirmed that statements have been recorded from seven Finance Ministry officials attached to the State Debt Management Office and the Department of External Resources as part of the investigation, NewsFirst reported. Computers seized from the affected sections have been handed over for forensic analysis, and the department has sought technical assistance from Sri Lanka CERT, with support from the Australian Federal Police under an existing memorandum of understanding.
Police on Monday said critical investigative data was already being actively exchanged with the Australian Federal Police to track the stolen funds and identify suspects, NewsFirst reported in a follow-up. Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning Dr. Anil Jayantha Fernando said the probe is examining whether a technical or administrative breakdown enabled the theft.
Sources: Ada Derana, NewsFirst, NewsFirst (April 27).
