The airline said one incident involved an erroneous payment linked to a compromised email account of a Dubai-based service provider, while another related to the alleged misappropriation of company funds by employees attached to its Chennai office in India.
The statement issued by the Sri Lankan Airlines
SriLankan Airlines wishes to clarify reports concerning two transactions, an erroneous payment made linked to a compromised email account of a service provider in the UAE, as well as misappropriation of company funds in India.
SriLankan Airlines was informed by a service provider based in Dubai, UAE, that it had not received funds for a payment of AED 974,000 made to them. It was subsequently discovered that the said service provider’s email account had been compromised by a third party, who had altered the bank account details and provided requested additional documentary proof through the established official communication channels and misled SriLankan Airlines into believing it was dealing directly with the legitimate service provider.
SriLankan Airlines took immediate action to prevent any further payments to the said account and reported the matter to the authorities in UAE and the Criminal Investigation Department in Sri Lanka. Investigations are currently ongoing in Sri Lanka and UAE. SriLankan Airlines reiterates that the payment was made based on the established email instructions and supporting documentation with authorised signatures that were later found to have fraudulently originated from the compromised service provider’s account. Further, SriLankan Airlines disclaimed and denied any liability to the service provider for non-receipt of funds by them as this situation has arisen due to compromise of their email system which was entirely outside control of SriLankan Airlines.
With regard to the misappropriation of funds at SriLankan Airlines’ office in Chennai, India, the Airline wishes to inform that a few employees, all Indian nationals working in the finance department in Chennai, are alleged to have misappropriated a total of INR 22 million over a period of time by fraudulently altering invoices, payment details and signatures. The Airline’s Head Office in Colombo detected unusual payments and initiated an internal investigation. Following the internal investigation, the employees concerned ceased reporting to work and appropriate action has been taken against the said employees. SriLankan Airlines immediately referred the matter to the relevant Indian law enforcement authorities and investigations are currently ongoing and action will be taken to recover the loss.
