• Released on 3 surety bonds of Rs. 5 m each

Daisy Forrest Wickramasinghe, also known as ‘Daisy achchi’, the maternal grandmother of Yoshitha Rajapaksa, was arrested by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) yesterday (5) in connection with a money laundering case. Following questioning by the CID in connection with the said investigations, she was arrested, and when produced before the Kaduwela Magistrate’s Court (MC), was granted bail. Accordingly, she has been ordered to be released on three surety bonds of Rs. 5 million each.

On 14 February, the Attorney General (AG) filed indictments in the Colombo High Court against Rajapaksa and Wickramasinghe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The charges relate to their failure to disclose the source of funds used to acquire lands and properties in Sirimalwatta Uyana, Ratmalana, and Dehiwala, valued at over Rs. 8 billion in total, between 2012 and 2015. Rajapaksa, who was recently arrested in connection with this case, was released on bail by the Colombo MC. Meanwhile, on 11 February, the Kaduwela MC imposed an overseas travel ban on Wickramasinghe over the ongoing investigation. 

According to the Police, under the instructions from the AG, Wickramasinghe was named as a suspect in the money laundering case linked to a Rs. 59 million joint account held by Rajapaksa and Wickramasinghe, for which Rajapaksa failed to provide a reasonable explanation regarding the source of earnings.