The investigation has been ordered by the Treasury Secretary Dr Harshana Suriyapperuma following a communication from the Director General of External Resources.

Former Governor Ranjith Keerthi Tennakoon commenting on the investigation said that the reported payments had been made despite doubts cast by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

He said they cannot expect an impartial investigation into the matter as officials implicated in it were involved in the probe. 

Meanwhile SLPP MP Namal Rajapaksa in a message posted on ‘X’ said;

“The reported loss of USD 2.5 million through fraudulent payment instructions is not a minor administrative lapse, it is a serious breakdown of oversight, internal controls, and institutional safeguards within the Treasury.

When systems fail at the top, junior officers should not be turned into sacrificial lambs to shield those responsible for supervision and decision-making. If inexperienced officials were placed in sensitive technical roles without proper protection, the fault lies with those who designed the system, not those left exposed by it.

Serious questions must be asked. How did fraudulent email instructions bypass verification protocols? Why were safeguards inadequate? Was the proper role of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka undermined in handling such high-value transactions? And who approved a process vulnerable enough to put public funds at risk?

Sri Lanka cannot afford governance built on improvisation instead of competence. Technical institutions must be run by expertise, not weakened by poor judgment or political convenience. Accountability must begin at the top, and the country deserves full transparency on how this happened.”