Former education minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam was arrested by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption on Wednesday and remanded until August 18 by the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court.
He was taken into custody at about 1.45 p.m., the Daily Mirror reported, hours after he arrived at the Commission that morning to record a statement.
The allegation
CIABOC alleges that four people recruited to Kariyawasam’s official personal staff were put to work that had nothing to do with their posts. Three were assigned to a fuel station he owns, the Commission says, while the fourth drew salary and allowances without being given duties at the office allocated to the position.
The salaries and allowances paid to the four amount to Rs. 2,768,836.14, which CIABOC treats as a loss to the state and the basis of a corruption charge.
The four were attached to the Presidential Secretariat during his tenure as a senior adviser to the President — a post the Daily Mirror reported he was appointed to on July 29, 2022 by then-President Ranil Wickremesinghe. Outlets rendered the title differently: the Daily Mirror gave it as Senior Adviser to the President on Administrative Affairs, while Ada Derana described the staff as recruited to the Office of the President’s Senior Advisor (Decentralized Administration).
Why bail was refused
CIABOC told the court that the investigation began with a complaint received in 2025, and that the four employees were recruited on a temporary basis to the Office of the Senior Presidential Adviser from July 2022 on Kariyawasam’s request.
“These four employees recruited at the request of the suspect did not perform duties in that office. There are no fingerprint records or attendance records indicating that they reported for duty there. Instead, they were employed at a fuel station owned by the suspect in Kuliyapitiya,” the Commission said in submissions reported by NewsFirst.
The investigating officer also raised concerns about alleged interference with witnesses. Two of the four employees are currently overseas, the court was told, while a third continues to work as manager of the suspect’s fuel station. That employee initially gave a statement confirming he worked at the fuel station and not at the Senior Presidential Adviser’s office, but later submitted an affidavit to the Commission claiming his earlier statement was incorrect and giving what CIABOC called “a completely contradictory account”.
The reversal “raised suspicions that the witness may have been influenced by the suspect”, the officer said, asking that Kariyawasam be remanded while investigations continue.
Counsel for Kariyawasam argued that pending investigations alone could not justify remand, telling the court that attendance records showing the employees had reported for duty had already been handed to the Commission and that investigations should have been completed before the arrest. The defence asked for bail.
Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama rejected the bail application and ordered the former minister remanded until August 18. He also cautioned Kariyawasam against interfering with proceedings, after the former minister allegedly attempted three times during the hearing to give instructions to his lawyers from the dock.
What this confirms
Wednesday’s arrest resolves a question left open earlier in the day, when neither newsroom covering his appearance said which investigation it concerned. It is the inquiry CIABOC opened in July into allegations that Kariyawasam, a former General Secretary of the United National Party, recruited employees to the Presidential Secretariat and deployed them for personal and political work.
He was summoned on July 21 and did not appear, the Commission said at the time, giving no reason for his absence.
The allegations have not been tested in court. Kariyawasam is due back before the magistrate on August 18.
Sources: Ada Derana, Daily Mirror, NewsFirst, Ada Derana, NewsFirst, Daily Mirror, NewsFirst.
