Former Speaker and influential minister under the Mahinda Rajapaksa and Gotabaya Rajapaksa administrations, Chamal Rajapaksa, is likely to be arrested in the coming days, according to a report by Silumina.
Rajapaksa is scheduled to be questioned by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption in connection with allegations that he fraudulently claimed Rs. 152,260,000 in compensation from the government. The claim was based on false information that his house and property in Magama, Tissamaharama had been set on fire and destroyed during the May 9, 2022 uprising.
Investigations have now revealed that the property in Magama, Tissamaharama does not legally belong to Chamal Rajapaksa. It is registered under another individual’s name. Furthermore, it has been found that the site did not contain a residential house, but only a paddy warehouse.
Despite this, Rajapaksa submitted an affidavit claiming he was in possession of the said property. However, subsequent investigations confirmed that there was no house at the location—only the paddy warehouse.
Following these revelations, on July 27, 2023, the Additional Secretary (Parliamentary Affairs) of the Ministry of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils, and Local Government, R.M.N.E.K. Ranasinghe, officially informed the Director General of the Office for Compensation—under the signature of the Secretary to the same Ministry—that the compensation payments could not be processed under their purview.
However, prior to this communication, on July 20, 2023, an assessor from the Department of Valuation had submitted a report stating that there was a house on the property, valuing it at Rs. 14,800,000.
As a result, compensation was paid as follows: Rs. 222,600 for the paddy warehouse, and Rs. 14,800,000 for a non-existent house—amounting to a total of Rs. 152,260,000.
In addition to the investigation against Chamal Rajapaksa, legal action is also expected to be taken against the government officials who allegedly acted in violation of the law and administrative circulars in facilitating this payment.
