MONETABRIEF: Sri Lanka’s former finance minister Ravi Karunanayake was arrested today for allegedly using state funds to pay three employees, the anti-corruption body CIABOC said.
He was later granted bail of two million rupees by a Colombo additional magistrate, Liyan Warusuwithana who also slapped a foreign travel ban on him.
The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) said Karunanayake, a member of former president Ranil Wickremesinghe’s administration, arranged salaries from the National Lotteries Board (NLB) for staff who did private work for him.
The magistrate was also told that the three workers had been paid 3.7 million rupees in wages from state funds although they did not do any work for the NLB.
The arrest comes amid a wider crackdown on corruption.
Two weeks ago, former minister Keheliya Rambukwella was detained over the theft of a sacred “moonstone” from the palace of the island’s last Sinhala king.
All immediate family members of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa also face investigations or prosecutions on money laundering, bribery and murder charges. (Colombo/Aug 31, 2026)