Colombo Fort Magistrate – Nilupuli Lankapura has directed the CID to launch a full investigation into an alleged Rs.90 million fraud at the state owned People’s Bank.

The order follows a motion filed by Senior Counsel Gunaratna Wanninayake over the incident said to have occurred nearly a decade ago, calling for the perpetrators to be caught.

Accordingly, the CID’s Commercial Crimes Division was instructed to identify those responsible and report progress by July 30th.

The case originated from a CID complaint filed on October 28, 2015, by Chairman of Yashoda Holdings (Pvt) Ltd – Yasasiri Kasthuriarachchi. The case alleges that forged documents were used to fraudulently secure a loan by transferring property ownership.

Senior Counsel Gunaratna Wanninayake informed the court that a loan of Rs.90 million was secured by mortgaging a 48-acre land in Pasyala worth Rs.4,000 million inherited by his client – Kasthuriarachchi. The loan was obtained from the state bank using forged documents and without the loan money ever reaching his clients’ accounts.

He further noted that loans of this scale from a state bank usually require board-level approval, yet no such approval is on record prompting the question of who misappropriated the Rs.90 million.

He requested a full investigation into the incident.

The building housing the Suwa Seriya headquarters in Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte has overcharged the rent by millions over the officially assessed value.

An audit by the National Audit Office (NAO) has revealed that as a result over Rs.05 million than the officially assessed value had been paid every year.

According to the NAO report, the building’s owner rejected the government’s valuation and submitted a separate, higher assessment, which was ultimately accepted contrary to regulations.

Regulations require that when leasing a building, the institution’s head must first obtain an assessment from the Chief Valuer. As per established procedures, such disputes should be referred to the relevant ministry secretary if the Chief Valuer’s assessment is not accepted.

However, the audit found this process was not followed.

In response, Suwa Seriya management told the NAO that a decision was taken at a Board of Directors meeting in March 2025 to forward the rental matter to the Secretary of the Ministry of Health for approval.

(Source: Aruna)

A 24-year-old university student from Asgiriya, Gampaha, has gone missing while swimming in the sea off the Colombo Port City beach.

The incident occurred yesterday morning (June 26) when a group of students from the Universities of Colombo and Moratuwa were snorkeling and observing the seabed at leisure.

The student failed to resurface, prompting a complaint to the Colombo Port Police.

Lifeguards later recovered the snorkel believed to be belonging to the missing student.

A joint search operation involving Navy divers from the Colombo Port and Rangala Navy Division is currently underway. Further investigations are underway by the Colombo Port Police.