A 34-year-old man has been arrested in the Maradana area in connection with an alleged illegal foreign money-transfer operation involving approximately US$80 million, as authorities continue investigations into the suspected movement of large sums of money overseas.
Officers of the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) are investigating allegations that the suspect facilitated the transfer of the funds, equivalent to around Rs. 23 billion, to various foreign bank accounts through an allegedly illegal Telegraphic Transfer (TT) system.
According to investigators, the transactions were carried out over a two-year period between 2023 and 2025. The FCID is now working to determine the full extent of the operation, identify other individuals who may have been involved and trace the foreign bank accounts linked to the transfers.
The latest arrest comes amid a wider investigation into allegations that nearly US$1 billion was illegally transferred out of Sri Lanka. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has previously claimed that large sums of foreign currency were transferred overseas without corresponding imports, raising concerns over an organised network involved in the country's illegal foreign-exchange market.
Several previous investigations and arrests have also been reported in connection with suspected illegal foreign-currency transfers and so-called Undiyal operations. Authorities have been examining bank accounts and transactions believed to have been used to move substantial amounts of money overseas outside the formal banking system.
