• Probes underway into two separate incidents

SriLankan Airlines issued a clarification regarding two separate financial fraud incidents involving a compromised email account in the UAE and alleged misappropriation of funds at its Chennai office in India.

According to the national carrier, a payment amounting to AED 974,000 was fraudulently redirected after the email account of a Dubai-based service provider was compromised by a third party.

The Airline stated it was informed by the service provider that payment had not been received, after which investigations revealed that bank account details had allegedly been altered through fraudulent communications sent from the compromised email account.

SriLankan Airlines noted that immediate action was taken to stop further payments to the account and that the matter had been reported to authorities in both the UAE and Sri Lanka, including the Criminal Investigation Department.

The Airline maintained that the payment had been made based on what appeared to be legitimate instructions and supporting documents carrying authorised signatures, which were later found to be fraudulent.

SriLankan Airlines further stated that it does not accept liability for the non-receipt of funds by the service provider, noting that the incident resulted from a compromise within the provider’s own email system.

In a separate case, the Airline stated several employees attached to its finance division in Chennai are suspected of misappropriating INR 22 million over a period of time by allegedly altering invoices, payment details, and signatures.

The airline added that unusual payments were first detected by its Head Office in Colombo, leading to an internal investigation.

Following the probe, the employees concerned reportedly stopped reporting to work, and disciplinary action was initiated against them.

SriLankan Airlines added that the matter has now been referred to Indian law enforcement authorities and investigations are continuing with efforts underway to recover the losses.