On Wednesday, Sri Lanka’s former First Lady Shiranthi Wickramasinghe Rajapaksa was arrested over allegations relating to the failure to provide a CT scanner intended for the Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children.
Sri Lankan news portal Daily News reported allegations that a sum of Rs. 10 million was obtained from the National Savings Bank through the Siriliya Saviya organization for the purpose of providing a Computed Tomography (CT) scanner to the children’s hospital.
Investigators allege that the funds obtained were instead misappropriated. Allegations also include offences relating to corruption under the Public Property Act.
Shiranthi Rajapaksa was arrested at approximately 9:56 a.m. from her residence in Kirulapone, Colombo, according to CIABOC.
Barring the now-ailing 80-year-old two-time president Mahinda Rajapaksa, almost all prominent members of the Rajapaksa family face severe legal charges or are on a run outside of Sri Lanka.
Mahinda’s elder son, Namal Rajapaksa, has been in judicial custody since September 4 for corruption in an Airbus case and bribery charges, dating back to 2013.
Namal’s younger brother, Yoshitha Rajapaksa, spent nearly two months in custody after being arrested in January on money laundering charges.
Mahinda’s brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa, under whose presidency Sri Lanka’s economy collapsed, has been barred from leaving the country over an alleged conspiracy related to a 2019 attack.
Mahinda Rajapaksa’s military victory, against conventional military wisdom, catapulted him to the status of demigod in Sri Lanka back in 2009.
However, a former minister told the Federal that his family members began taking advantage of Mahinda’s popularity and indulged in wrongdoing, which eventually led to the end of his presidential career.
From 2005-2015, during Mahinda’s time as President, nearly 30 cabinet ministers in Sri Lanka were of the Rajapaksa’s external family, controlling nearly two-thirds of the national budget, noted Federal’s report.
When Gotabaya came into power in 2019, the same pattern emerged where Mahinda was made Prime Minister while other family members received key posts in the government too. Hence, since Gotabaya fled the presidential palace in 2022, the Rajapaksa family has been unable to make a comeback.
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