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Thursday, October 1 2026
Thursday, October 1 2026
MONETABRIEF – Sri Lanka's NDB Bank said it had hired a foreign agency specializing in tracing stolen money and digital assets after 13.6 billion rupees was siphoned off the bank with the collusion of some staff.
A forensic audit ordered by the central bank had confirmed that 13.639 billion had been stolen, about 60 million more than the 13.57 million disclosed earlier, the bank said in a stock exchange filing.
Most of the money, totalling 9.61 billion rupees had been stolen in 2025. Before January 2025, 1.46 billion had been stolen.
In the first quarter of 2026, 2.56 billion rupees had been stolen.
Legal action was pending against the perpetrators after a police investigation.
"The Bank is also pursuing all avenues available to it to recover the misappropriated fund including availing the services of an expert foreign agency specializing in trading stolen money and digital assets," NDB Bank said.
The forensic report had found control failures, technology lapses and governance and recommended action is being taken.
No customer balances have been affected and the bank had capital. (Colombo/Sept30/2026)
| 3 month bill | 9.25% | 5bp ▲ |
| 12-m bill | 9.95% | 2bp ▲ |
| Gold (Ounce) | $4602 | - - |
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