Sri Lanka calls on international help to find

former first familys alleged foreign fortune

British financial crime experts give advice as Sri Lanka pursues corruption cases
against former ruling clan, foreign minister tells The Telegraph on eve of elections

Former Sri Lankan president and parliamentary candidate Mahinda Rajapaksa Photo: Getty Images

Sri Lankas leaders have appealed

to Britain, America and the World Bank to help to track down the overseas assets of
the former ruling family as they accelerate plans for trials for rampant corruption after
Monday's elections.
By Philip Sherwell, Matara

Mangala Samaraweera, the foreign minister, revealed on

Sunday that Sri Lanka requested the assistance of several states, including the UK, as
it investigated alleged widespread financial abuse by relatives of ex-president Mahinda
Rajapaksa.
The Telegraph has also learned that British experts from the Serious Fraud Office
(SFO) have trained Sri Lankan investigators as the former colony beefs up its
previously weak police financial crimes units.
Sri Lanka was ruled as a family business during 10 years under Mr Rajapaksa, the
self-styled warrior king who packed key ministerial positions with his brothers and
close relatives as he sought to establish a new political dynasty.
The ultranationalist Sinhalese Buddhist expected to secure another victory in
January. But he suffered a stunning defeat as Sinhalese disillusioned with widespread

nepotism and corruption allied with Tamil and Muslim minorities to back Maithripala
Sirisene, his former health minister.
The former strongman is now hoping to stage a comeback in the election to choose
a new parliament on Monday a possible stepping stone to a return to office as
prime minister.

For
mer Sri Lankan president and parliamentary candidate Mahinda Rajapaksa Photo:
Getty Images
This last stand could also be the final chance to thwart efforts to bring several
Rajapaksas to trial for corruption as well as possibly war crimes when the Tamil
Tiger insurgency was crushed in 2009, leaving as many as 70,000 dead.
Mr Samaraweera told The Telegraph that the net was already closing on the
Rajapaksa clan during an interview at his constituency office in the southern coastal
town of Matara.
Since we took office in January and we have found widespread evidence that funds
were siphoned off from major government projects, said Mr Samaraweera, a senior
Rajapaksa aide until they split in 2007.
We have asked for help from the authorities in Britain, the US, India and several

other countries, as well as the stolen assets recovery unit at the World Bank, as we try
to identify assets stashed abroad in offshore accounts, property and business
investments.
We need the help of foreign governments and agencies and we are very pleased with
the assistance we have been receiving. We are on the verge of some major
breakthroughs and we are preparing criminal cases right now.
Mr Rajapaksa turned the countrys government into a family affair after he first won the
presidency in 2005. His younger brother, Gotabhaya, was theall-powerful defence
minister who oversaw that 2009 battlefield victorythat also claimed the lives of an
estimated 40,000 civilians.
A third brother Basil served as the minister for economic development, while the oldest
sibling Chamal kept the legislature in order as speaker of parliament. Several sons,
nephews and nieces, cousins and in-laws also held key positions in a spiders web of
dynastic domination.
Police financial crime investigators and anti-corruption officials are investigating
dozens of major cases of alleged fraud in state projects or money laundering involving
Rajapaksa family members.

For
mer Sri Lankan president and parliamentary candidate Mahinda Rajapaksa Photo:
AP

The former president and his family deny the allegations and claim they are the target
of an orchestrated political witch-hunt by the new government.
Particular attention has focused on the Colombo Port City harbour reclamation project
off the citys historic seafront Galle Face Green. The $1.3 billion (830 million)
scheme, funded by China as part of its drive to establish way points across the Indian
Ocean, has been dogged by accusations of financial misdeeds and pay-offs.
Basil Rajapaksa has been questioned about allegedly misappropriating funds from an
anti-poverty programme while Gotabaya has been questioned about alleged fraud
involving several military deals, including purchases of MiG fighter jets.
Krishantha Weliamuna, the head of the new governments anti-corruption task force,
told The Telegraph that several investigations were now finished and awaiting
indictment from the attorney general. He said that Sri Lankas financial crimes unit has
been bolstered by training from British SFO officials.
British officials said they could not comment on current investigations. But Hugo Swire,
the Foreign Office Minister for Asia, said that the assistance was provided by the SFO
as part of the Governments focus on anti-corruption programmes.
Were leading a real drive on this across the world and are supporting a number of
governments, including Sri Lankas, on tackling corruption, he said.
The SFO have already provided training for the Sri Lankan authorities and we stand
ready to provide further support, if requested.
For Mr Rajapaksas inner circle, the legal headaches are not limited to alleged
financial malfeasance. Investigators last week exhumed the body of a former Sri
Lankan rugby star who investigators alleged was murdered by members of the
former presidential security unit after a reported falling-out with Mr Rajapaksas son.
And a United Nations report to be made public next month into alleged war crimes
committed against Tamil civilians when the Tigers were crushed could pave the way
for war crimes trials against senior figures in the last administration.
Mr Rajapaksa is facing a more immediate financial challenge on Monday. Deprived of
his control over the state media and security apparatus and the finances of
government coffers, he has struggled to build support for his bid to lead the next

government as 15 million Sri Lankans go to the polls.

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