Ravi Karunanayake arrested over corruption allegation

Sri Lanka's former finance minister Ravi Karunanayake was arrested Monday after the country's anti-corruption body questioned him over allegations that state funds were used to pay private employees.

The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption took Karunanayake into custody after a lengthy interrogation.

A commission official, speaking anonymously to AFP, said Karunanayake was behind salary payments to three people from the National Lotteries Board even though they did private work for him.

Karunanayake served in former president Ranil Wickremesinghe's administration. His arrest comes during a corruption crackdown by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who took office in 2024.

Another former minister, Keheliya Rambukwella, was arrested earlier this month for allegedly aiding the theft of a centuries-old sacred rock from the palace of Sri Lanka's last Sinhala king.

Immediate family members of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa are also facing investigation or prosecution over money laundering, bribery and murder. The Rajapaksas have denied all allegations.