MR Summoned by Bribery Commission: Ex-SriLankan CEO’s Claims Lead to MR Summons

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:00]Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, former civil aviation minister Priyankara Jayaratna, and former Sri Lankan Airlines board member Willy Gamage have been summoned to appear before the commission to investigate allegations of bribery or corruption.

[00:00:14]Willy Gamage appeared before the commission earlier today, provided a statement, and left the premises. Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa said that he will appear before the commission tomorrow.

[00:00:44]Investigations into his death are currently being carried out by the Colombo Crimes Division. Police said that statements have been recorded so far from about 15 individuals, including former cricketer Aravinda de Silva, who is a relative and the owner of the house where Chandrasena's body was found.

[00:01:01]Police also revealed that Kapila Chandrasena, who was under a court warrant, had held discussions with his lawyers regarding judicial proceedings on the day before his death.

[00:01:12]Chandrasena, who had previously been remanded and later released on bail in connection with the bribery case, had produced two sureties whom he had reportedly obtained by paying 15,000 rupees each. After it was revealed that the sureties were hired, court ordered his re-arrest. His body was found against this backdrop. The general secretary of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, attorney-at-law Sagara Kariyawasam, addressed the media today regarding Kapila Chandrasena's death and the summoning of Mahinda Rajapaksa before the bribery commission.

[00:01:50]Various information is now emerging regarding the provision of those sureties and objections raised against them. We are currently gathering all the information and in the future we will present to the public how this actually happened. What is now clearly visible is that this death goes beyond a suicide and points to abatement of suicide.

[00:02:08]Another extremely unfortunate matter is that the late Chandrasena was threatened and coerced into giving a statement.

[00:02:14]After giving that statement, Chandrasena informed court that he had been forced under death threats to include the names of Mahinda Rajapaksa and Namal Rajapaksa in that statement. If the government believes can use statements obtained under threats to target leaders who serve the country, defeated terrorism, develop the nation and stood up for the people by abusing the law and dragging them before the legal net, that will not be easy. We strongly believe the people of this country will rise against such actions.

[00:02:46]What is the scandal? The primary investigation relates to a transaction proposed during 2012 and 2013. The Sri Lankan Airlines planned to retire 13 aircraft and purchase 14 new aircraft.

[00:03:00]An agreement was signed with France-based Airbus to purchase six A330 aircraft and four A350 aircraft.

[00:03:08]Allegations that bribes were paid in connection with this deal emerged in January 2020 following an investigation by the UK Serious Fraud Office. It was revealed that Airbus had agreed to pay a bribe of 16.84 million US dollars to intermediaries involved in the purchase of 10 aircraft. Investigations further revealed that 2 million US dollars from the alleged bribe had been credited to an account belonging to a company operated in Brunei in the name of Kapila Chandrasena's wife. Following these revelations, an investigation was launched in Sri Lanka as well. Findings assured that part of the 2 million US dollar had been transferred on several occasions from a Singapore account to Kompili Chandra Sena's account in Australia. Funds from the same Singapore account were also transferred to two bank accounts in Sri Lanka. Statements obtained by the Bribery Commission from Chandra Sena led to further disclosures.

[00:04:07]According to those findings, in 2013, 160,000 US dollars had been transferred from the Singapore account to an account belonging to Shamindra Rajapaksa, a then Sri Lankan Airlines board member.

[00:04:21]Shamindra Rajapaksa is the son of former speaker Chamal Rajapaksa. According to Chandra Sena's statements to the Bribery Commission, an additional 60 million rupees from the alleged bribery money had also been given to former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. He revealed that these payments were made on three occasions starting in 2015.

[00:04:42]One of Chandra Sena's lawyers informed the Bribery Commission on the 19th of March that his client was willing to become a state witness. It is against this backdrop that Mind the Rajapaksa, Priyanka Rajaratna, and Willy Gamage have been summoned before the Commission. The Airbus transaction was canceled following the change of government in 2015. The cost of canceling the deal alone amounted to 98 million US dollars, a loss incurred without receiving a single aircraft or even spare parts. The deal is widely regarded as a corrupt transaction that caused Sri Lanka to lose millions of dollars without any tangible benefit.