Update, August 26: Questioning has produced details of property in Switzerland, Italy and France. Details below.

Update: August 26 — hotels and vehicles in three European countries

Basik owns properties including hotels and vehicles in Switzerland, Italy and France, NewsFirst reported on Wednesday, citing questioning by officers of the Police Central Crime Investigation Bureau.

Police said Basik had travelled to each of those countries and managed the business operations there himself. Questioning also disclosed a jeep worth more than Rs. 15 million in Dubai — the city where he was living in hiding before his arrest and deportation.

The European holdings are the first assets attributed to him outside the UAE, and they widen the asset inquiry from a domestic financial review into three jurisdictions where recovery would require mutual legal assistance. Police did not say whether any step has been taken to trace or restrain them, what they are valued at, or when they were acquired.

He continues to be questioned under a detention order in the custody of the Colombo Central Crime Investigation Bureau.

NewsFirst now places the hotels on a different street

The same report describes his local holdings as several hotels on Colombo’s Sea Street, along with the mobile phone shops in Boralesgamuwa.

That does not match the outlet’s own earlier reporting. On August 16, NewsFirst reported that Basik told investigators he held a stake in five hotels along Marine Drive, the coastal stretch running south from Colombo Fort. Sea Street is in Pettah, inland and roughly two kilometres away — a different location, not a variant spelling of the same one.

NewsFirst did not acknowledge the change, and no other verified newsroom has reported the hotels’ location independently. Which street the properties are on remains unresolved.

Update, August 22: Questioning has produced details of further property in Boralesgamuwa. Details below.

More properties disclosed in Boralesgamuwa

Basik owns two houses and two mobile phone shops in Boralesgamuwa, police said, describing the information as having emerged during questioning, NewsFirst reported on Saturday.

The disclosure adds to the five Marine Drive hotels he described to investigators earlier this month, and comes as the court-ordered review of his bank accounts proceeds. Police did not say what the Boralesgamuwa properties are valued at, when they were acquired, or whether they have been placed under any restraining order.

No other verified newsroom had reported the Boralesgamuwa properties at the time of writing.

A court has ordered a full examination of every bank account linked to alleged large-scale drug trafficker Shiran Basik, who is being held under a 90-day detention order.

The order was made after investigating officers presented submissions in court, Hiru News reported, placing that hearing on Wednesday. A separate inquiry into Basik’s wealth and properties is being conducted under the supervision of the Illegal Assets Investigation Division, according to NewsFirst.

Two outlets, two agencies

The reports differ on who will carry out the review. NewsFirst said the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka will conduct it. Hiru News said the court directed the Police Financial Crimes Investigation Division to inspect the accounts.

Both bodies work on financial crime but are separate institutions, and neither outlet mentioned the other. The discrepancy has not been reconciled.

Hiru also reported that Basik is being detained and questioned by the Central Crime Investigation Bureau under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Earlier reporting on the 90-day detention order did not specify the law under which it was issued.

Background

Basik, 48, fled Sri Lanka and was in hiding in Dubai before being arrested by UAE authorities and deported. He was flown back to Colombo on August 14 and handed to the Central Crime Investigation Bureau, after which several investigations into his alleged criminal activity, financial dealings and assets were opened.

NewsFirst said questioning has produced details on five hotels he is alleged to own along Colombo’s Marine Drive — properties Basik himself described to investigators earlier this month.

Hiru placed his Dubai arrest in March, matching Ada Derana’s account. The same outlet had previously reported the arrest as 26 May, and the two versions have not been reconciled.

The financial review runs alongside a broader police operation targeting the assets of 25 organised-crime figures. None of the allegations against Basik has been tested in court.

Sources