Former prez Rajapaksa given cash bribe in airbus deal, SL court told

Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa was given a bribe of LKR 60 million, Kapila Chandrasena, chief accused in the 2017 Airbus case, told a court in Sri Lanka on Thursday. Chandrasena, the former CEO of the national carrier between 2011-15, was produced in the magistrate’s court in Colombo after he was arrested last week in the case. Rajapaksa was given Sri Lankan rupees (LKR) 20 million each at three different occasions at his country homes in the rural south in 2015 when he was the president, the former airline CEO alleged.
Former Aviation Minister Priyankara Jayarathna during Rajapaksa's time, was also mentioned as having received a share of the bribe, he said. Chandrasena himself had received a kick back from Airbus and monies had been credited to his wife’s account. Both were arrested and extended on bail in 2019. The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) revived the Airbus case after the new anti-corruption laws were enacted in the island nation in 2024.
The current National People's Power (NPP) government, in the run up to the 2024 elections, had pledged to clean public life by prosecuting even the highest authority in the land. Investigators also outlined a complex financial trail, alleging that a company had been set up overseas under Chandrasena’s wife’s name, with a bank account opened in Singapore to facilitate transactions. Through this mechanism, authorities believe more than €1.45 million was received from a European aerospace firm as part of the deal. The money was subsequently channelled into to the suspect’s account at the Commonwealth Bank held in Australia.