SLC official arrested on charges of financial fraud

Wimal Nandika Dissanayake, Sri Lanka Cricket's chief financial officer, has been arrested by the country's Criminal Investigation Department on charges of financial fraud to the tune of USD 165,000. This is understood to be in relation to the missing portion of broadcasting fees due to the board from the home series against South Africa in July-August this year.

That missing 15% tranche had come to light after investigations began into a similar attempt to embezzle USD 5.5 million in broadcasting fees due for the ongoing England tour. In that instance, broadcaster Sony Pictures Ltd had assisted in uncovering the irregularity, alerting the board that funds were asked to be transferred into an unfamiliar account.

Dissanayake, who replaced the longstanding head of SLC's finance division Chandramali Korale in 2017, had been working as CFO for almost a year when the initial allegations relating to the England tour broadcast fees surfaced. At the time he claimed his account had been hacked, though subsequent investigations revealed that was untrue. Since then, SLC has begun taking a closer look at its books for possible financial malpractices within the organisation, commissioning accounting firm Ernst & Young to conduct an audit into its 'Media Broadcasting Rights and Receipts and Payments' for years 2013-2018.