Former Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe arrested for misusing govt funds

August 22, 2025

New Delhi, August 22: Former Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe has been arrested by the police for misusing government funds. He is accused of going to London to attend the convocation of his wife, Professor Maithri Wickremesinghe, while he was the President in 2023.

Police say that there was no official trip to London, yet it was done at government expense. A group of 10 people was involved in this trip, and about Rs 1.69 crore was spent.

At that time, Wickremesinghe was on an official visit to Cuba and America, after which he went to Britain for a personal visit. Apart from this, he is also accused of paying a salary to his personal bodyguard from the government treasury.

First former President to be arrested

News agency AFP quoted a police officer as saying that Wickremesinghe arrived at the Financial Crimes Investigation Department (FCID) this morning for questioning in connection with this case. He was arrested after a questioning that lasted for 4 hours.

He has become the first former president to be arrested in Sri Lankan history. He was produced before the Colombo Fort Magistrate.

Wickremesinghe said, his wife bore the expenses of her own travel

Wickremesinghe has denied the allegations, saying his wife bore her own expenses and no government money was misused. His office has described these reports as false and misleading.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) had earlier presented evidence against Wickremesinghe at the Fort Magistrate Court. This included statements from his former private secretary Sandra Perera and former presidential secretary Saman Ekanayake.

Wickremesinghe held the post of prime minister six times

Wickremesinghe has served as Prime Minister for six different terms since the 1990s. During this period, he has made 23 foreign trips, for which 2 million dollars (Rs 17.5 crore) have been spent from the government treasury.

Wickremesinghe visited Cuba in 2023. On his return from here, he stopped in London, where he attended the G-77 summit. During this time, he and his wife Maitree attended a function at Wolverhampton University.

became president after the coup

In July 2022, then Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa resigned after months of protests against corruption and mismanagement. After this, Wickremesinghe became the President for the remaining term.

Wickremesinghe is credited with stabilising the economy after the country’s worst ever financial meltdown in 2022. Wickremesinghe lost the election to leftist AK Dissanayake in a close second round contest in September last year.