Sri Lankan anti-graft authorities on Friday arrested lawmaker Namal Rajapaksa, the son of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, accusing him of receiving $800,000 linked to a 2013 Airbus deal.
The Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga Bodaragama ordered the 40-year-old scion of the once-powerful Rajapaksa family to be held for two weeks pending further investigations.
He was taken before court by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), which arrested him after questioning over the $2.3 billion Airbus transaction.
The CIABOC told court that Rajapaksa had received $800,000, part of money allegedly paid by the European aircraft manufacturer to Sri Lankan politicians and officials to secure the deal.
A Sri Lankan businessman had arranged the transfer of cash to Rajapaksa via two Singapore bank accounts, the court was told.
Rajapaksa’s lawyer Nishantha Dayananda sought bail, but it was denied.
CIABOC had questioned the former president himself in May over allegations that he, too, had received kickbacks from the aircraft purchase, which was cancelled by a new government in 2016.
The anti-graft probe centres on claims that the European manufacturer channelled part of the money from the purchase to senior Sri Lankan officials and politicians.
The Rajapaksa family has denied allegations that they received bribes and dismissed corruption claims against them as politically motivated.
Former SriLankan Airlines chief executive Kapila Chandrasena told investigators in March that he had handed nearly half a million dollars in kickbacks to the senior Rajapaksa.
Chandrasena was found dead at a relative’s home in May, shortly before he was due to be rearrested. The cause of death has not been established.
A joint investigation by US, British and French authorities previously found Airbus had agreed to pay about $16 million in bribes in Sri Lanka, with $1.7 million routed to Chandrasena before the scandal was uncovered.
The payments were linked to the purchase of 10 Airbus aircraft, which required cabinet approval during Rajapaksa’s presidency from 2005 to 2015.
According to submissions made in court, Chandrasena initially told investigators he had paid Rajapaksa 60 million rupees ($461,000 at the time) in three instalments in 2013.
He later retracted the statement, claiming it had been made under pressure.
SriLankan Airlines has accumulated losses estimated at nearly $2 billion, and repeated attempts to privatise the debt-laden flag carrier have failed.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
