Pressure mounts on Finance Secretary to resign

25 April 2026 11:40 am Views - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}} 9 Bookmark

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Colombo, April 25 (Daily Mirror) - The association called 'Free Lawyers', which exposed the US $ 2.5 million cyber theft, urged Finance Ministry Secretary Harshana Suriyapperuma to step down.

The Secretary to the Treasury, Harshana Suriyapperuma, is one party responsible, as he gives the final approval for the repayment of the loan, Head of Free Lawyers Maithri Gunaratne told Daily Mirror.

Asked whether Free Lawyers would lodge a complaint with the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), Mr Gunaratne did not rule out such a possibility. “We will wait for some time to find out more information and then proceed with the next step,” he said.

He alleged that US$2.5 million is believed to have been transferred to an account in a foreign bank. “It has gone into a foreign bank in accordance with the information which we have received,” he said. “However, we are yet to find out who is behind the theft,” he added.

Civil society activist Ranjith Keerthi Tennakoon, who is also associated with Free Lawyers, said the Central Bank is also a responsible party in the incident. “It is the Central Bank which usually advises on the repayment of the loan. This is one of the sixteen-stage loan repayment processes. Therefore, the Central Bank has definitely had a role to play in the incident,” he said.

Comments - 9

Citizen Saturday, 25 April 2026 12:56 PM

True, he is responsible . Its purely his negligence if not anything else

2 16

ICC Saturday, 25 April 2026 11:08 PM

No Precautionary Measure Were Done,

1 3

Lion Saturday, 25 April 2026 04:20 PM

Government should not give any consideration for these views expressed by a click , who is aligned to the opposition and whose only motive is to topple the government. Best thing is to carry on with the investigation and disclose the full facts to the public.

22 20

Lion Saturday, 25 April 2026 05:19 PM

Let them give pressure and don’t take any notice of it go on with your investigation and tell the country what has happened.

15 19

Thambi Saturday, 25 April 2026 08:30 PM

The governor ought to resign and accept responsibility for the situation. The financial implications are considerable, and with each criminal incident, it is the taxpayers who ultimately absorb the cost of these offenses perpetrated by individuals who claim to possess financial expertise. Accountability is essential in this matter.

9 14

Jude Saturday, 25 April 2026 10:07 PM

Should resign to demonstrate ethical and new practice of politics

7 24

Mahadenamutta Sunday, 26 April 2026 01:59 AM

It is the staff officers who control the payment who must resign or be sacked, not the Minister, who only counter signed what the Central Bank Governor approved !!!

7 2

Nimal R Sunday, 26 April 2026 04:18 AM

This government came to power saying that no political appointments would be made to any local or foreign administration services but has violated the promise from many such appointments. He should resign immediately.

1 6

Zak Sunday, 26 April 2026 04:24 AM

Sri Lankan are naive, I work for a bank in Australia and these type of payment fraud happens to even hight sophisticated companies. The only issue i see is gov taking too long to take action.

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