The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the National Policy on Preventing Money Laundering, Combating the Financing of Terrorism, and Countering Proliferation Financing in Sri Lanka 2026–2030.

The proposal was presented by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, in his capacity as Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policies.

The policy follows the country’s third National Risk Assessment on financial crimes conducted by the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka for the period 2024/25, in line with standards set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

According to the government, money laundering, terrorism financing, and proliferation financing for weapons of mass destruction pose serious threats to both Sri Lanka’s economy and the global financial system. 

With rapid technological advancement making transactions more complex, identifying and preventing methods used by criminals to conceal illicit activities has become increasingly challenging.

The new policy aims to strengthen Sri Lanka’s framework for tackling these risks, ensuring compliance with international standards and reinforcing public confidence in the country’s financial system. (Newswire)

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The Court of Appeal has concluded hearings on a petition filed by Yoshitha Rajapaksa, son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, seeking to dismiss the “conspiracy” charge brought against him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. 

The court announced that its order will be delivered on July 3.

The petition was argued by Attorney Hafiel Faris on behalf of Rajapaksa, while Deputy Solicitor General Janaka Bandara represented the Attorney General

The bench, comprising Justices Amal Ranaraja and Dr. Sumudu Premachandra, heard submissions from both sides before closing proceedings. 

The petition challenges the maintainability of the conspiracy charge in the case filed by the Attorney General, with Rajapaksa’s legal team insisting the allegation cannot be sustained under the law. (Newswire)

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The Colombo High Court has ordered the postponement of the case filed against Yoshitha Rajapaksa, son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, until July 9.

The case was taken up before High Court Judge Udesh Ranatunga today (04). 

Deputy Solicitor General Janaka Bandara informed the court that a revision petition filed by the respondent was called before the Court of Appeal yesterday (03), which fixed the matter for hearing on June 16.

He noted that until then, the complainant had notified the Court of Appeal that evidence in the High Court case would not be led, and requested that proceedings be adjourned without calling witnesses.

Granting the request, the High Court postponed the case until July 9 and directed witnesses to appear on that date.

The Attorney General has filed charges against Yoshitha Rajapaksa, alleging that he unlawfully acquired five plots of land valued at over Rs. 73 million, thereby committing an offence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. (Newswire)

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Bandara Rambukwella, a cousin of former Minister Keheliya Rambukwella, has been arrested this morning (Feb. 3) at his residence on allegations of money laundering, according to Police.

The arrest was made by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption. (Newswire)

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The Supreme Court of India on Monday refused to interfere with a Delhi High Court order dismissing actor Jacqueline Fernandez’s plea to quash ECIR (equivalent to FIR) in a Rs 200 crore money laundering case involving alleged conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar.

“We will not interfere at this stage,” a bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih told senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who represented Fernandez.

The plea filed through advocate Sumeer Sodhi, Jacqueline Fernandez has challenged the high court’s July 3 order, which dismissed her petition seeking quashing of the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) in the money laundering case.

Jacqueline Fernandez is an accused in the money laundering case lodged against Sukesh Chandrasekhar and had appeared before the Enforcement Directorate for questioning in the investigation.

Delhi Police booked Sukesh Chandrasekhar for allegedly duping the spouses of former promoters of Ranbaxy, Shivinder Singh and Malvinder Singh, of Rs 200 crore. (NDTV)

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The Attorney General has filed indictments against Yoshitha Rajapaksa and his grand-aunt Daisy Forrest Wickramasinghe before the Colombo High Court.

The indictments have been filed under the Money Laundering Act, related to a Rs. 59 million joint account belonging to the duo. 

Previously, the Police had filed charges against both under the Money Laundering Act after investigations since 2016 found Rajapaksa was unable to provide satisfactory explanations regarding the funds.

According to the investigation, the funds in question were placed in fixed deposits and bank accounts, including a joint account maintained with Daisy Forrest.

The Attorney General then directed the Police to name Forrest as a suspect in the case. 

As a result, both Yoshitha Rajapaksa and Forrest were formally named as suspects in the Kaduwela Magistrate’s Court last Sunday (Feb 11), with charges filed under the Money Laundering Act. (Newswire)

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The Financial Intelligence Unit of Sri Lanka (FIU) has published the sanitised report of the 2021/22 National Risk Assessment (NRA) on Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (ML/TF), which was developed based on the assessment conducted by the FIU of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) together with public and private sector stakeholders. 

According to the Central Bank, this assessment was aimed at identifying the ML/TF risks in the country. The assessment highlights the most significant ML/TF threats, vulnerabilities, and risks faced by Sri Lanka.

The NRA identified Drug Trafficking, Bribery and Corruption, Customs related Offences including Laundering of Trade-Based Proceeds, as the most prevalent predicate offences, where ML threat was rated as medium high. 

Fraud, Robbery, Environmental and Natural Resource Crimes recorded as having a medium level of ML threat. 

Human Smuggling/Trafficking, Tax Offences, Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing related unlawful activities were assessed as having a medium low ML threat, while lower ML threat was observed for Counterfeiting of Currency.

Further, the NRA identified the ML risk of the financial and designated non-financial businesses and professions sectors as follows; https://shorturl.at/djvHU (NewsWire)

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