Sri Lanka’s official suspended over cyber fraud is found dead

A senior Sri Lankan official, suspended in connection with the loss of $2.5 million due to hacking of the Finance Ministry account, was found dead in Kuliyapitiya, police said on Thursday.

The unnamed official, posted as an Assistant Director at the External Resources Department (ERD) of the Ministry of Finance, was one of the six officials suspended pending an investigation into the cyber fraud.

Police suspect that the official may have committed suicide in his house at Kuliyapitiya in the northwest region. Last week, the secretary to the Treasury confirmed that $2.5 million from the Treasury account meant for foreign debt repayment to Australia was hacked in January. This was a part payment of the $22.9 million debt settlement.

Meanwhile, Secretary to the Treasury Harshana Suriyapperuma appeared before the Parliament’s Committee on Public Finance in connection with the case.