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Friday, October 9 2026
Friday, October 9 2026
MONETABRIEF – Sri Lanka Parliament's Committee on Public Finance has found out that that the regulator and auditors had queried staff who robbed NDB Bank themselves when unusually large balances were found in receivable account which was empty.
Some staff of NDB Bank had siphoned off 13 billion rupees, through transactions via the LankaPay Common Electronic Fund Transfer Switch and inserted an 'receivables' (a fictitious asset) account in the IT system to 'balance' accounts.
Auditors flagged the amount in the annual report in the last financial year with an asterisk, though there was no specific emphasis of matter.
The central bank's supervisors revealed they had had asked the staff who were involved in the scam themselves about 'volatile' balances and they had apparently given answers which had satisfied them at the time.
As a general rule, compliance officers and operations staff are separate, observers say.
The fraud was not discovered for a long period because the people tasked with dealing with the regulators were the same people who carried out the crime, Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe said.
COPF asked why Bank Supervision took them at their word and did not ask questions from their superiors who had signed off on the accounts.
The fraud had been going on for at least three years and COPF members observed that the staff involved in the fraud apparently had passwords of other senior staff to alter or create an asset account which was empty (no corresponding liability in another bank).
| 3 month bill | 9.25% | 5bp ▲ |
| 12-m bill | 9.95% | 2bp ▲ |
| Gold (Ounce) | $4602 | - - |
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