MONETABRIEF – Sri Lanka’s government has escalated its anti-corruption drive by reviving dormant cases against the once-powerful Rajapaksa family, with summons issued on Wednesday against the former first lady.
A lawyer representing the family said she was served a notice from the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) minutes before she boarded a pre-dawn flight to Singapore on Wednesday.
Manoj Gamage told reporters in Colombo that she was not planning to flee and was unaware that the FCID had wanted to question her about her Siriliya Saviya charity, which led a campaign to collect donations for a PET scanner for the Maharagama Cancer Hospital.
She is accused of raising over 10 million rupees in donations for the scanner, which had been gifted by the Chinese government, and using those monies for other purposes, a charge she denies.
Gamage said the money raised for the scanner was to be diverted to a children’s ward at the same hospital, but he said the money had not yet been spent and was still in the Siriliya Saviya account.
Shiranthi Rajapaksa, 73, had been undergoing eye treatment at Nawaloka Hospital and travelled to Singapore for further treatment, Gamage said.
Investigators have already told a court that the Chinese government had gifted the scanner, but Rajapaksa’s charity continued to raise money for it. The People’s Bank of Sri Lanka had also contributed two million rupees.
Meanwhile, her eldest son, Namal, who is currently in remand custody following allegations that he received an $800,000 kickback from a 2013 Airbus deal at a time when his father was president, was remanded until September 23 in connection with another case.
The fresh case involved money laundering linked to the same 2013 Airbus deal. Namal is being prosecuted under an anti-corruption provision that does not allow a magistrate to grant him bail until the case is concluded.
There is a bribery charge against Namal brought by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) and a money-laundering charge made by the Financial Crimes Investigation Division.
The Rajapaksa family has denied allegations that its members received bribes and dismissed the corruption claims against them as politically motivated.
A joint investigation by US, British and French authorities previously found that Airbus had agreed to pay about $16 million in bribes in Sri Lanka to senior airline officials and ruling-party politicians.
The new government of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has revived dormant corruption cases against Rajapaksa family members and their close associates as part of a fresh anti-graft drive.
With Shiranthi summoned for questioning, the entire family is now facing some form of investigation or prosecution, with most other Rajapaksa relatives also under investigation or facing ongoing prosecutions for alleged corruption.
President Dissanayake has made his anti-corruption drive the cornerstone of his administration. (COLOMBO/Sept 16/2026)