Sri Lankan lawmaker Namal Rajapaksa was arrested on Friday after appearing before the country’s anti-corruption body for questioning regarding a 2013 aircraft purchase deal. The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption took him into custody in Colombo following several hours of questioning. Investigators allege he accepted about Rs 100 million in bribes connected to the national carrier SriLankan Airlines procuring Airbus aircraft while his father, former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, was in power.
According to the bribery commission, more than 1.4 million euros of the funds were allegedly routed into a Singapore Standard Chartered Bank account under the name of BIZ Solutions. The $2.3 billion aircraft deal was signed in 2013 and cancelled in 2016 amid allegations of irregularities. Investigators suspect Airbus funnelled proceeds to senior Sri Lankan officials and politicians to secure the contract.
Namal Rajapaksa has previously denied wrongdoing and called the probe a politically motivated effort against his family. His arrest follows the family losing power in 2022 after an economic crisis and mass protests, which led to multiple corruption investigations against family members.