By Ruwan Weerakoon
(Lanka-e-News -04.Sep.2026,11.30 PM) Namal Rajapaksa, National Organiser of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) and Member of Parliament, was arrested on September 4 by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), over allegations that he received a bribe of Rs. 100 million in connection with the purchase of Airbus aircraft for SriLankan Airlines.
Rajapaksa had been notified in advance to appear before the Commission at 9:00 a.m. After more than five hours of questioning, investigating officers placed him under arrest at around 2:09 p.m. He was later produced before Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama, who rejected the bail application filed by his lawyers and ordered him remanded until September 18.
Three Summons Before He Appeared
According to attorney Mudith R., who confirmed Rajapaksa's appearance, the Commission first summoned him on July 21, but he did not appear, citing a reason the Commission found unsatisfactory. He was then asked to appear on August 3, and again failed to show up.
Finally, the Commission sent a formal notice via WhatsApp warning that a court order would be sought if he failed to appear again, and directed him to appear on September 4. He did so — and was arrested on the spot.
The Commission's case centres on money alleged to have been paid as bribes connected to SriLankan Airlines' purchase of wide-body aircraft. According to the Commission's allegations:
€1,454,651.24 was received into an account held in the name of "BIZ Solutions INC" at Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore.
Of that sum, US$800,000 was transferred to an OCBC Bank account in Singapore held under "Sabre Vision Holdings LTD," a company owned by a Sri Lankan businessman.
In parallel with those transfers, Rajapaksa allegedly received a total of Rs. 100 million in bribes from the Sri Lankan businessman on several occasions during 2014 and 2015.
The Commission states that the arrest was based on a statement given by the Sri Lankan businessman named in the case, statements provided to the Commission by officials from Airbus in France, and documents and other evidence gathered during the investigation.
Without prior Cabinet approval — though approval was obtained afterward — SriLankan Airlines' Board of Directors entered into a contract worth Rs. 290 billion with Airbus of France for the simultaneous purchase of 12 aircraft.
The airline's Board at the time comprised: Chairman Nishantha Wickramasinghe, brother of former First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa; Director/CEO Kapila Chandrasena; President's Counsel Nihal Jayamanne; Shameendra Rajapaksa; Manilal Fernando; Sanath Ukwatte; Susantha Ratnayake; and Lakshmi Sangakkara.
During Mahinda Rajapaksa's second presidential term (2010–2015), Priyankara Jayaratne served as the nominal Minister of Civil Aviation. Although SriLankan Airlines fell under his ministry, actual control of the airline is said to have rested with the Rajapaksa family.
A case was filed in a UK court after it emerged that Airbus had paid bribes to airline representatives in several countries as part of its deals worldwide. It emerged that Airbus paid US$2 million to BIZ Solutions Incorporation, a shell company set up in Brunei in 2012, which investigators found was later transferred into the company's Singapore account.
UK court documents that came to light in 2020 revealed that Priyanka Niyomali Wijenayake, wife of Kapila Chandrasena — the Sri Lankan Airlines executive who later died under suspicious circumstances — had acted as an agent for the Airbus aircraft purchase. Airbus had reportedly initially agreed to pay a bribe of US16.4 million, of which US2 million was paid to BIZ Solutions Inc, a shell company set up in Brunei in 2012 in which Priyanka Wijenayake was named as a director.
Part of this money was later transferred to Singapore, and another portion to Australia. Of this, it is reported that Rs. 100 million was received by Namal Rajapaksa on several occasions through the business accounts of a businessman named Nimal Perera, who is said to have given evidence to this effect to the Bribery Commission.
After these facts came to light, on February 6, 2020, former SriLankan Airlines CEO Kapila Chandrasena and his wife Priyanka Wijenayake were arrested and remanded. Chandrasena, who had been arrested earlier this year in connection with the same corrupt deal, died under mysterious circumstances a few months after disclosing information related to the bribery.
Rajeev Jayaweera held senior positions at airline companies in several countries around the world, and served as the local manager of SriLankan Airlines during the Rajapaksa era. He had written to a website exposing the Rajapaksa family's connection to this deal.
Within five months of the Chandrasena couple's arrest, on the morning of June 12, 2020, at around 7:00 a.m., Rajeev's body — with a single gunshot wound to the head — was found under a tree at Colombo's Independence Square by the Kirundawatta Police. Gotabaya Rajapaksa had by then been president for seven months.
Police stated in their initial investigations that Rajeev had died by suicide, shooting himself in the head. The reason given was a typed letter he was said to have written to his brother before his death. A text message had reportedly been sent from Rajeev's mobile phone to his brother the day before his body was found, mentioning the secret code to his personal bag and a letter contained within it.
Based on that letter, police reported to the court that he had died by suicide, stating that he had purchased a .22 calibre "Micro" pistol for the purpose. Police did not pursue the case with much interest, and it was later reported that there was no significant CCTV footage available from the area around Independence Square and his residence.
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by (2026-09-04 18:43:51)
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