New Anti-Corruption unit to fast-track high-profile cases
The new administration led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is reinvigorating efforts to investigate and address high-profile corruption cases and financial crimes.
These efforts will focus on the retrieval of overseas assets tied to key political figures, alongside a review of existing international legal frameworks to assist in the recovery process.
The renewed focus will revisit infamous cases, such as the Central Bank bond scam, the misappropriation of sugar tax funds, the garlic fraud, coal procurement for the Lakvijaya Power Plant from 2022 to 2025, and the purchase of 96,000 metric tonnes of organic fertiliser.
To streamline this anti-corruption push, the present administration aims to introduce a dedicated bill in Parliament that will grant a select team of experienced officers’ special statutory powers to handle complex financial crime investigations.
Presently, the authority to investigate such cases is vested solely in the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption.
Wasantha Samarasinghe, member of the National People’s Power (NPP) executive committee, asserted that the new government would enforce the law to prevent corrupt individuals from obtaining bail easily.
He revealed that 118 files related to alleged financial crimes, initially investigated by the now-defunct Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) of the police, remain pending at the Attorney General’s Department.
In 2016, the NPP had submitted 570 files to the FCID, Criminal Investigation Department (CID), and the Bribery or Corruption Commission; 118 of these cases, already reviewed and completed by the FCID, were handed over to the Attorney General for prosecution but are still awaiting action. The resignation of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in July 2022 underscored the need for governance reform as a vital part of economic recovery, with civil society playing an instrumental role in advocating for accountability and transparency.
The enactment of the Anti-Corruption Act No. 9 of 2023 by the previous regime repealed the long-standing Bribery Act No. 11 of 1954, the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption Act No. 19 of 1998, and the Declaration of Assets and Liabilities Law No. 1 of 1975.
Under this new legislation, the Anti-Corruption Commission has the authority to conduct preliminary inquiries upon receiving complaints, information, or motions. Upon finding reasonable grounds to suspect an offense, the Commission can direct the Director General of the Bribery or Corruption Investigation Commission to conduct a full investigation and initiate criminal proceedings in the relevant courts.
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