Former Sri Lanka President Wickremesinghe arrested for alleged state fund misuse

Sri Lanka’s former President Ranil Wickremesinghe was arrested on Friday (August 22) for allegedly misusing state funds, police said. He is accused of using public money to travel to England in September 2023 to attend a convocation ceremony of his wife, Prof Maithree.

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Statement recorded

Wickremesinghe, 76, was arrested at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) headquarters, where he was summoned to record a statement in connection with an investigation into the alleged misuse of government funds, police said.

In 2023, Wickremesinghe made a stop in London on his return from Havana, USA, where he had attended the G77 summit.

During the visit, he and his wife, Maithree, took part in a ceremony at the University of Wolverhampton.

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State fund misuse

It is alleged that Wickremesinghe, after completing an official engagement in the US, stopped in the UK at the state’s expense to attend his wife’s private ceremony.

Wickremesinghe has maintained that his wife paid for her own travel expenses and that no public funds were used for her trip.

The CID, however, claims that government money was spent on what was essentially a private visit, including expenses incurred for his bodyguards.

The CID had previously questioned his staff about the travel expenses.

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Lost re-election bid

Wickremesinghe, who had replaced Gotabaya Rajapaksa as the President to serve the balance term until the end of 2024, was credited with steering Sri Lanka out of the economic crisis of 2022.

He was president from July 2022 to September 2024. The veteran politician also served as Sri Lanka's prime minister six times. He lost his re-election bid in September.

(With agency inputs)