Sri Lanka authorities have launched a corruption probe into three former senior-level officials in relation to a lottery tender process.
The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery of Corruption (CIABOC) confirmed the names of the three individuals to be Priyanka Maddumabandara (former Trade Ministry Secretary), Doraisamy Jeevanandam (former Administration Secretary), and Kaluwewa Aravinda Priyadarshani de Silva (former Chief Financial Officer).
According to the allegations reported in local media, the three individuals were involved in a corruption case related to the procurement process of selecting an operator for the Mahapola Online Lottery.
The lottery first began operating in 2014, but was subsequently shut down by the Ministry of International Trade in 2017 after it failed to meet expectations of how much revenue it can generate.
A new procurement attempt was launched back in 2022, with the Mahapola Trust Fund and the Trade Ministry seeking investors for a new revamped Mahapola online lottery. Local media reports that the corruption allegations are in relation to that process.
CIABOC explained that although a bidder was successfully selected, the trio conspired against awarding it the licence, stalling the process and then personally benefiting from a wave of new bids.
Authorities added that the suspects allegedly received a bribe of LKR 1m (£2.4k) from a company connected to a bidder that had previously been rejected.
The three suspects have been arrested and will be trialed at the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court, with both the government and the successful candidate potentially looking to recoup for incurred financial losses.