Claim: The money-laundering case against former president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s son Yoshitha was dismissed after he was granted bail following his appearance in court on Monday (January 27, 2025).
Fact: While Yoshitha has been granted bail, the case has not been dismissed by the Colombo Magistrate’s court.
Several social media users are claiming that the money-laundering case against former president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s younger son Yoshitha, who was recently arrested, was dismissed by the court after he was released on bail. According to one Facebook post, translated from Sinhala, “Back then, in Yah(m)apalanaya times when his son was arrested, the father Mahinda himself argued the case and freed his son. Today, during this JVP government, when his younger brother was arrested, the elder brother Namal himself argued the case and freed his brother.”
Photos and videos of Yoshitha Rajapaksa’s brother, MP Namal Rajapaksa, speaking to the media after the hearing, are also being shared on social media, claiming that it is time for the second Rajapaksa to celebrate freedom from the charges.
Similar social media posts can be found here, here, and here.
Yoshitha’s Arrest
The Sri Lanka Police on January 25, 2025, announced that Yoshitha was arrested for violations of provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act No. 5 of 2006. Later on Monday (January 27), Yoshitha Rajapaksa was released on two surety bail amounts of LKR 50 million each, until the next hearing where the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) will present their case. Other bail conditions included an overseas travel ban, reporting to the FCID on the last Sunday of each month, and a strict directive to avoid influencing witnesses.
Fact Check/Verification
Newschecker first looked at the press notice issued by the Sri Lanka Police Media Division at 10.40 am on Friday, January 25, which stated that former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s second son Yoshitha Rajapaksa had been arrested for further investigations related to charges of money laundering under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act No. 5 of 2006.
Further, this notice indicated that the arrest was made due to “sufficient evidence” indicating that Yoshitha Rajapaksa had violated provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act No. 5 of 2006 and as such that he has been arrested under the Criminal Procedure Code of Sri Lanka. It mentioned that the Criminal Investigations Department will continue investigating this matter.
Multiple mainstream media outlets reported this story along with photos and videos of Yoshitha being arrested in Beliatta. Two such reports can be found here and here.
What Is The Case About?
The arrest and charges are related to a property in Ratmalana which belongs to Yoshitha’’s grandmother Daisy Forrest. The FCID noted that this property worth 34 million LKR could not have been bought by Forrest on her income as a hospital employee, teacher, and school warden, and speculated that they have enough evidence to prove that the property was bought by Rajapaksa for her.
However, at the time this property was bought (2012), Yoshitha was a lieutenant of the Sri Lanka Navy, earning approximately 73,000 LKR per month. The FCID claimed that he could not have afforded this property on such an income either. The FCID investigations have also revealed that the deed was in the possession of a man named Palitha Gamage who claims that former president Mahinda Rajapaksa gave it to him.
This summary is based on two detailed reports of the case from AdaDerana LK and the NewsFirst LK video below.
What Happened At The Hearing on January 27?
This hearing was conducted by Colombo Additional Magistrate Manjula Ratnayake with Additional Solicitor General Dilipa Peiris representing the FCID and President’s Counsel Sampath Mendis representing Rajapaksa. Until this bail hearing, numerous speculations were made on social media and mainstream media about the reason for this specific arrest and the charge.
President’s Counsel Sampath Mendis, on behalf of the defendant, said that the FCID is bringing charges against his client at this time, eight years after the main suspect Daisy Forrest was first heard and granted bail. He noted that Forrest was absent in court. Unlike previously claimed by the FCID and the police, this evidence is not ‘sufficient’ to keep Yoshitha Rajapaksa remanded on this charge.
What Did The Judge Decide?
A BBC Sri Lanka article reported on the decision of the court that saw Colombo Additional Magistrate Manjula Ratnayake highlighting several flaws in the investigation process.
Firstly, the main suspect in the case, Forrest, was out on bail and absent from court at the hearing. Second, according to Section 7 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, a freezing order should have been placed on all of Rajapaksa’s assets, especially this property in Ratmalana back in 2017 when the investigations started. Such an order had not been placed since up-to-date.
Thirdly, the judge said, “The prosecution had requested that bail be denied based on the seriousness of the case and public unrest. However, the prosecution did not present satisfactory evidence to the court regarding those matters. The court cannot remand a suspect based solely on the words ‘seriousness of the case’ and ‘public unrest’.”
Reports by AdaDerana LK and the Daily Mirror LK substantiated the above and said that a follow-up magisterial inquiry on the matter has been scheduled for May 16, 2025.
Furthermore, on January 27, Minister of Justice Harshana Nanayakkara made a special statement to the media, clarifying that charges against Rajapaksa have not been dismissed by any means and that the Attorney General and FCID will investigate this charge further and two more charges against him. He said, “He has only got bail. All these suspicions will be resolved in a month and a half.”
Speaking under anonymity, a reporter from a reputed media outlet who was present at the court during the proceedings, confirmed to us that Yoshitha has only been given bail and that the investigation would continue. Two attorneys-at-law aware of the proceedings also confirmed the same to Newschecker.
The Newschecker team also attempted to contact President’s Counsel Sampath Mendis who appeared on behalf of Rajapaksa. We will update this article with their response.
Conclusion
While Yoshitha Rajapaksa was granted bail, the money-laundering charges were not dismissed by the Colombo Magistrate’s Court. The social media posts claiming that charges have been dismissed at this hearing are false since a dismissal would need to be based on more evidence that would be uncovered after further investigation.
Result: False
Our Sources
Press notice by the Police Media Division about Yoshitha Rajapaksa’s arrest in Beliatta, the Sri Lanka Police Media Division website, published on January 25, 2025
News article titled ‘Yoshitha Rajapaksa Arrested’ on Daily News LK, published on January 25, 2025
News article titled ‘Sri Lanka ex-president’s son arrested on corruption charges’, JURIST News, published on January 25, 2025
Video titled ‘Did Yoshitha Rajapaksa Use an Elderly Woman to Evade Charges? Court Grants Bail to Yoshitha Rajapaksa’ on NewsFirstLK YouTube channel, posted on January 27, 2025
News article titled ‘FCID to Question Daisy Forrest’, HiruNews LK, published on September 17, 2017
News article titled ‘Rajapaksa family’s financial deals probed as multiple money laundering cases against Yoshitha’, on AdaDerana LK, published on January 27, 2025
News article titled ‘යෝෂිත රාජපක්ෂ: අධිකරණයේදී දිගහැරුණු චෝදනා, විත්තියේ තර්ක සහ මහේස්ත්රාත්ගේ තීන්දුව’ (Yoshitha Rajapaksa: Charges, defence arguments and the Magistrate’s decision’), on BBC Sri Lanka, published on January 27, 2025
News article titled ‘Yoshitha’s case; Why action is taken after eight years? Asks Magistrate’. On Daily Mirror Online, published on January 28, 2025
Special statement issued by Harshana Nanayakkara, Minister of Justice on the matter, on NewsFirst LK, published on January 27, 2025
The Prevention of Money Laundering Act No. 5 of 2006 of Sri Lanka
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