USD 2.5mn goes missing from Treasury

Finance Ministry appoints an internal investigations committee to find out how a sum of US 2.5 million dollars has gone missing 

Five member committee have been requested to conclude the investigation and submit the relevant investigation report to the Finance Ministry as soon as possible  

Monies which have gone missing are associated with an Australian agreement  

The Finance Ministry has appointed an internal investigations committee to find out how a sum of US 2.5 million dollars has gone missing from the Treasury through a series of fradulent emails, the Daily Mirror learns.  

According to an internal document circulated by the Finance Ministry, it states that a technical investigations committee has been urgently appointed to probe the detection of fraudulent email communications and the missing bilateral payment of US 2.5 million dollars which was expected to be paid to Australia.   

The Daily Mirror learns the monies which have gone missing are associated with an Australian agreement.

The five member committee have been requested to conclude the investigation and submit the relevant investigation report to the Finance Ministry as soon as possible.  

The opposition has already raised serious concerns on the lapse of security and safety of the monies maintained in the Treasury and have asked how the government became victim to hackers who easily obtained the large sum.  

In a post on X, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) National Organiser Namal Rajapaksa has said the reported loss of US$2.5 million through fraudulent payment instructions is not a minor financial lapse but a serious breakdown in oversight, internal controls and institutional safeguards within the Treasury.  

He said that when systems fail at the highest level, junior officials should not be made “sacrificial lambs” to shield those responsible for supervision and decision-making.  

He further argued that if inexperienced officials are placed in sensitive technical positions without adequate safeguards, responsibility lies with those who designed and approved the system rather than those exposed to its weaknesses.  Raising a series of questions, Namal asked how fraudulent email instructions were able to bypass established verification protocols, and why existing safeguards proved inadequate. He also questioned how the role of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka was undermined in managing high-value transactions, and who approved a process that left public funds vulnerable to such risks.  

Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa said the funds had allegedly been obtained by a hacker through false information and questioned how such a transaction could have taken place without proper verification. Premadasa said the incident suggested that the Ministry of Finance, Treasury, and Central Bank of Sri Lanka lacked the ability to properly manage the country’s financial operations.  

He warned that if foreign currency reserves could be lost through forged confirmations and fraudulent instructions, the nation’s financial security was under threat.  

The Opposition Leader further said the matter had created a broader national security concern, citing weaknesses in the country’s financial systems.  

He said the government should be more diligent when carrying out transactions.