Former Sri lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s wife was interrogated on Monday by investigators over allegations of fraud, days after the ex-strongman’s son was remanded in custody on charges of money laundering.
Presidential Commission of Inquiry Into Serious Acts of Fraud and Corruption questioned Shiranthi Rajapaksa over allegations of fraud.
Shiranthi was summoned over allegations that she had instructed the Housing Ministry to provide a house, belonging to the National Housing Development Authority, below the estimated value to her former media coordinating officer, the Colombo Page reported.
She was asked to record a statement regarding the alleged discrepancy under the previous Rajapaksa regime.
It has been reported that the house valued at a price of Sri lankan Rs 5.5 million was offered to her coordinating officer for Sri lankan Rs 5,00,000.
Shiranthi’s questioning comes two days after Rajapaksa’s 27-year-old son Yoshitha Rajapaksa was arrested along with four others and remanded in custody for nearly two weeks on charges of money laundering.
Yoshitha, a navy lieutenant and the second son of Rajapaksa, was arrested and quizzed on Saturday by the police’s Financial Crimes Division (FCID) at the Sri lankan Navy headquarters over his involvement in the management of a private television company.