Former Chairman of SriLankan Airlines, Nishantha Wickramasinghe, has been remanded until July 01 after being produced before the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court. 

He was taken into custody today (27) at around 12:18 p.m. in the Nawala area by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) on corruption charges.

According to the Commission, the arrest was made in connection with an ongoing investigation into three separate allegations of corruption related to decisions taken during his tenure at the helm of the national carrier. 

The charges against Wickramasinghe are as follows:

1. Causing a financial loss of USD 4,512 to the government by altering the destination of flight UL319, which was originally scheduled to travel from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Katunayake on 22 January 2014.

2. Causing a financial loss of USD 19,160 to the government by disembarking 75 passengers who had arrived in Sri Lanka from the Maldives and were scheduled to depart for France on flight UL563 on 26 January 2014.

3. Misuse of public funds amounting to LKR 1,250,000 on 19 December 2014, allegedly used for the former President’s election campaign held at the 18th Mile Post Stadium in Katunayake.

Nishantha Wickramasinghe is the brother of former First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa and served as Chairman of SriLankan Airlines and Mihin Air under the Mahinda Rajapaksa government.