Sri Lankan anti-corruption authorities arrested lawmaker Namal Rajapaksa on Friday. He is accused of receiving $800,000 linked to a controversial 2013 Airbus deal. Rajapaksa is the son of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, adding a significant political dimension to the case.
Rajapaksa’s lawyer Nishantha Dayananda sought bail, but it was denied. The Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga Bodaragama ordered the 40-year-old scion of the once-powerful Rajapaksa family to be held for two weeks pending further investigations. He was taken before court by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), which arrested him after questioning over the $2.3 billion Airbus transaction. The CIABOC told court that Rajapaksa had received $800,000, part of money allegedly paid by the European aircraft manufacturer to Sri Lankan politicians and officials to secure the deal.
A Sri Lankan businessman had arranged the transfer of cash to Rajapaksa via two Singapore bank accounts, the court was told.
The anti-graft probe centres on claims that the European manufacturer channelled part of the money from the purchase to senior Sri Lankan officials and politicians. The Rajapaksa family has denied allegations that they received bribes and dismissed corruption claims against them as politically motivated. The cause of death has not been established. He later retracted the statement, claiming it had been made under pressure.
Chandrasena was found dead at a relative’s home in May, shortly before he was due to be rearrested. CIABOC had questioned the former president himself in May over allegations that he, too, had received kickbacks from the aircraft purchase, which was cancelled by a new government in 2016. A joint investigation by US, British and French authorities previously found Airbus had agreed to pay about $16 million in bribes in Sri Lanka, with $1.7 million routed to Chandrasena before the scandal was uncovered. The payments were linked to the purchase of 10 Airbus aircraft, which required cabinet approval during Rajapaksa’s presidency from 2005 to 2015. Chandrasena initially told investigators he had paid Rajapaksa 60 million rupees ($461,000 at the time) in three instalments in 2013, according to submissions made in court. SriLankan Airlines has accumulated losses estimated at nearly $2 billion, and repeated attempts to privatise the debt-laden flag carrier have failed. (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.) Earlier reporting noted: Sri Lanka arrests former President Rajapaksa’s son over Airbus deal Sri Lanka’s main anti-graft body arrested lawmaker Namal Rajapaksa, the son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, on Friday (September 4, 2026) in connection with a corruption probe into a 2013 Airbus aircraft purchase.
Former SriLankan Airlines chief executive Kapila Chandrasena told investigators in March that he had handed nearly half a million dollars in kickbacks to the senior Rajapaksa. Earlier reporting noted: The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) said the 40-year-old scion of the once-powerful Rajapaksa family “was summoned for questioning over the Airbus transaction”. Earlier reporting noted: “The MP was arrested afterwards and will be taken before a magistrate,” a commission official said.
