Did the Finance Ministry ignore prior warning?

Colombo, May 4 (Daily Mirror) - The US $ 2.5 million cyber theft has taken place at the Finance Ministry despite prior warning about such suspicious transactions by some external parties, according to what transpired during the meeting of the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) in the parliamentary complex last week.

Sri Lanka lost after cyber criminals breached the computer system of the Ministry and diverted US $ 2.5 million to another account. The payment is due to Australia as part of an interest payment in view of a bilateral loan.

The COPF summoned Finance Ministry Secretary Dr. Harshana Suriyapperuma for questioning on the matter last week.

A top source familiar with the COPF proceedings said that there had been warnings about such cyber activities, but it had not been taken note of properly.

The Ministry became aware of the incident after Australia flagged the payment delay in March this year.

Payments were made on five different occasions—three in November last year and two in January this year.

Investigations into the incident have now taken a new turn since one of the officials interdicted over the case died. The committee appointed to look into his death confirmed it as suicide. However, the opposition raises doubts about it.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is also assisting ongoing investigations.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is currently carrying out investigations, with the involvement of other relevant agencies such as the Central Bank.