Millions including NDB monies siphoned out of Sri Lanka under guise of importing goods

By Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera

Colombo, June 10 (Daily Mirror) - While Sri Lanka is grappling with a dollar crisis, investigations conducted by the police and Sri Lanka Customs have uncovered a massive scam where millions of US Dollars including the Rs.13 billion NDB fraud was siphoned out of the country under the guise of importing goods since 2023.

In a shocking revelation, the government revealed in Parliament yesterday that the Rs.13 billion fraud from the NDB Bank was also sent out in US dollars causing massive drain on foreign exchange. The monies had shockingly been siphoned out by certain companies through Telegraphic Transfer (TT) to overseas companies in the guise of importing goods.

Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala told Parliament yesterday that the monies in all these frauds had been sent out of the country through 26,108 Telegraphic Transfers made through 227 accounts in 13 banks since 2023.

The Minister said investigations had revealed that more scams may have taken place even before 2023 and that investigations will be launched into such incidents as well.

He said the massive scams were first detected following the investigations conducted into the recovery of Rs. 30 million in a three-wheeler in Peliyagoda on October 22, 2025.

The Minister said six individuals were arrested on suspicion that it was drug money and said however, further investigations revealed that the money belongs to a Company named Next Gen Private Ltd.

He said investigations conducted by the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) revealed that the said company had sent RS. 12.8 billion or USD 42.8 million out of the country through 953 Telegraphic Transfers made to 256 companies in 26 countries.

The Minister said the company registered on July 2, 2025 has not performed any legal business activity and added that it was also revealed that Rs. 13 billion of the NDB Bank fraud had also sent out of the country in the same manner.

He said another incident of similar scam was revealed following the recovery of a consignment of heroin in Negombo on February 15 this year and that the drug money is credited to a bank account in Divulapitiya belonging to a person hiding in Dubai.

It was also revealed that the money in the said account had later been transferred to another account in Colombo Fort belonging to a company named AY Investments Ltd and that some Rs. 2.2 billion in the account had been transferred to four current accounts in another bank in Colombo Fort.

He said it was revealed that Rs. 13 billion had been sent out of the country from the four accounts through TT between October 30, 2025 and March 4, 2026.

The Minister said the company had sent money to 108 countries in the guise of importing hardware items, gold jewellery or bathroom items and that no item had been imported to the country.

“USD 43 million had been sent out of the country due to this within a short period of time,’ he said.

The Minister said in a third incident, Sri Lanka Customs had complained to the police on a similar incident of massive amount of money transfers.

He said it has been confirmed that 105 local companies had been registered by 55 individuals adding that the same group had registered 105 companies from time to time. “They have registered a company and closed it after ordering goods through TT within six months and registered another company using another name. They have registered 105 companies in similar manner and committed the scam,” he said.

He said suspicions have emerged about the accountability of the officials as 14 TTS have taken place within a day in some occasions and that a comprehensive investigation into it is underway.

The Minister said the bank is required to inform the Sri Lanka Customs and the Central Bank once a company made a payment through TT for importing goods and that if the company failed to import the goods within 180 days, the Customs must inform the import and export controller or the Central Bank.

“This procedure has not taken place over the years,” he said.