File photo of former junior naval officer and former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s son Yoshitha Rajapaksa.
| Photo Credit: AFP

The son of Sri Lanka’s former president Mahinda Rajapaksa was banned on Monday (January 27, 2025) from leaving the country following his arrest for alleged money laundering.

The case against Yoshitha Rajapaksa dates back years, but has received renewed impetus since President Anura Kumara Dissanayake — who has vowed to fight endemic corruption — won a landslide election victory.

Several members of the powerful Rajapaksa family and close associates have been charged with an array of offences over the years, including corruption and even murder — all of which are still pending in the courts.

A former junior naval officer, Yoshitha Rajapaksa, 36, was hit with the travel ban after police said he was unable to explain the sources of income used to purchase a home while his father was in power from 2005 to 2015.

He was arrested and spent two days in detention before being released Monday by a magistrate in Colombo on a bond of 100 million rupees ($344,000).

Yoshitha had told investigators that he raised money to buy the property by selling a small bag of gems his grand-aunt had given him.

She was unable to recall how she acquired the precious stones when asked.

He was arrested in 2016 on a separate money laundering charge related to his purchase of a television network. Both cases have sat dormant for years.

His older brother Namal, a lawmaker in Sri Lanka’s parliament, also faces separate money laundering charges which have not yet gone to trial.

Dissanayake came to power in September 2024 after pledging to expedite the pending criminal cases and bring back stolen assets allegedly stashed abroad.

Cabinet spokesman Nalinda Jayatissa told reporters in Colombo over the weekend that the new government was providing more resources to the criminal investigations department to speed up prosecution.

“This is not a political witch hunt, but people voted us in to ensure that these dragging cases are concluded,” Jayatissa said.

Mahinda Rajapaksa’s younger brother Gotabaya became president in 2019 but was forced out of office in 2022 after a popular revolt, sparked by a ruinous economic crisis.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa also faces corruption charges over military procurements when he was a top defence official during Mahinda’s presidency at the tail end of Sri Lanka’s civil war.

Yoshitha Rajapaksa was already once arrested over an alleged financial offense in 2016. File
| Photo Credit: AP

Former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s son Yoshitha Rajapaksa was arrested by police on Saturday (January 25, 2025) on corruption charges in a property purchase case.

Ex-navy officer Yoshitha was arrested from their home territory of Beliatta over the investigation of alleged misconduct in the purchase of the property during the term of his father’s presidency prior to 2015.

Mr. Yoshitha is the second among Mahinda Rajapaksa’s three sons.

His uncle and former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was also quizzed by the police last week on the same property — a holiday home in the southern religious resort of Kataragama.

The arrest came as Mahinda Rajapaksa filed a fundamental rights petition on Friday (January 24, 2025) in the Supreme Court seeking its intervention to reinstate his security, which was significantly reduced by the government last month.

Since the formation of a new government led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake in November last year, Mahinda Rajapaksa’s eldest son and legislator Namal Rajapaksa was quizzed by the police over another property case alongside an employee of Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The new government in the run-up to elections had vowed to arrest everyone accused of wrongdoing during Mahinda Rajapaksa’s presidency between 2005 and 2015.